Patchwork
by oneriomancy
Summary: A timid photographer named Leo takes up the job of a lifetime- traveling across Kanto to photograph photos of every Pokémon for the newest and unreleased version of the Pokédex. Along the way, Leo will run into familiar and unfamiliar faces, and the return of an evil organization people feared many years ago. Set years after FRLG, before Sun and Moon.
1. Photograph

_**\- 01 -**_

 _ **"Photograph"**_

* * *

I like to see my life as a patchwork quilt. A patchwork quilt, with overlaying and oddly shaped patches that make up my story. They're different colors, different patterns, different events that have occurred in my life.

And don't get me wrong, a _lot_ has occurred in my life. But those are stories for a whole different time, okay? Because this first adventure begins the morning of October 2nd.

October 2nd in Viridian City, Kanto, is usually a quiet morning. Some of the trees have changed colors, but the city still retains the green hue. I'm out on a mission, that day.

A mission that could change the world.

You see, I work with the Professor Oak. _The_ Professor Oak of Pallet Town. I don't live there, per say, but I work with him. Well… I work for him. Under him. I work under him as an assistant to an assistant of his. And I was literally just running errands, but I took it as missions that could change the world.

First; I had to get a package from the Pokémart. Something special the Professor ordered, probably new parts for the latest version of the Pokédex. I wasn't a snoop and I didn't peer into it, I just placed it at the bottom of my bag and moved along. After that, I had to find a box of batteries, the batteries in the cameras at the lab died and they needed to be replaced.

Yeah, what an _exciting_ day. Don't worry, it's coming.

As I was digging through the batteries to find the right kind (damn old things only take a certain kind), I heard a gasp somewhere in the store.

"Oh, Blue!"

"Gym leader Blue!"

Ah, yes. _The_ Blue. Exciting, riveting, the gym leader himself, Blue Oak. He was wearing his usual gym clothes, his hair was a mess as usual and his green eyes looked down upon the trainers in the store with a bit of disdain, a bit of slyness, a bit of his usual attitude.

A small kid had run up to him, nearly knocking over the display of batteries I was digging through. "Mister Blue! Mister Blue!"

"Hey there, kiddo." Blue greeted. The small kid had a piece of paper held tightly in his one hand.

"Can you sign this for me?"

"Sure!" He carries a pen everywhere, of course. He must _love_ getting stopped for autographs. Personally, I'd find it quite tiresome, but that's just me personally. He signed the paper with a sly grin and handed it back to the little kid. "Here ya go, kid!"

I could see the signature in my mind. His handwriting was terrible, and he signed his name under scribbles that were supposed to be his signature catchphrase- _Smell ya later!_. I know this because my friend has one. Not me, I don't know what you're talking about.

…Anyway. The kid had disrupted my digging through the batteries, so I had to start all over again. I did not want to go up and have to ask the person at the register if they had any of the batteries I was looking for. I already had to pick up and sign for the package in my bag. That's enough social interaction my anxiety would let me have for the day. And since I was quiet and unassuming, Blue Oak began chatting with the register person and didn't exactly see that I was there.

Or didn't care, but I felt invisible everywhere I went so it never made a difference.

"Has my order come in yet?" Asked the Gym leader.

"Hmm… No, not yet." They'd probably remember seeing something labeled OAK, BLUE in the storage room. "You ordered all those new lights for your gym, right?"

"Yeah. The lighting's been going haywire for the past year. It almost broke and fell down on top of me in the middle of a battle. The kid won, but only on that note, and she's been waiting to challenge me after its fixed so it's fairer or whatever." Blue shrugged. "I never expected to have to do this when I signed up for it."

The person giggled in response. "Well, you took over a gym that was only open for two days after years of being closed. So, it makes sense, at least."

Blue shrugged.

Finally! I pulled out the package of batteries I was looking for. It was the right company and everything! Breathing a sigh of relief, I grabbed the box and walked it to the register. Again. This caught everyone's attention and I flinched under their gazes.

I word it much too dramatically then it should be, don't worry.

"Hey. You work with my Gramps, don't you?" Blue pointed a finger at me.

I nodded, nervously. "Yeah, I do. Well, I work _for_ him. I'm one of his assistant's assistants." Okay, too much, too much. I'm just a simple kid running errands, please don't attack me, Blue.

"How is the old man?" You wouldn't believe how often the Professor rants about his grandson. Either because Blue has broken the family tradition of researchers—his sister is interned somewhere in Hoenn under a professor—and his parents followed similar paths, his father working in Silph Co. in Saffron while his mother worked under Professor Oak until she had kids and became more stay-at home. And that he never completed the Pokédex. And that he couldn't be champion for ten whole minutes before Red showed up.

"…Good." I lied. He saw right through it. I'm a terrible liar, I know. That's gonna bite me in the butt one of these days.

"That man has never been 'good'." Blue rolled his eyes. "I'll believe you, as long as he's not overworking anyone."

"He's not!" My voice cracked too loudly. I cleared my throat. "I mean, not with me, anyway. I just take care of the Pokémon and get the pictures he needs." I turned to the register person, who had gone silent. "Just these, please." _Please get me out of this situation. Please_.

"That'll be 200 Poké." I handed over my cash and got the batteries, but Blue was still watching me. "Have a nice day!" They were cheery, but thus it comes when you have to work in retail.

As I grabbed my bag and quickly said, "Thanks, you have a good one too!", though it was more like "Thanksyouhaveagoodonetoo!", Blue stopped me.

"I'll walk you back." He offered. "Route 1 isn't dangerous, but it's not safe to go alone."

 _Oh, no,_ was an oversimplification of what I was thinking. "Y-You don't have to, s-sir! I'm fine by myself." I'm not just some random kid without a Pokémon who has to run errands, I was a seventeen-year-old random kid with a Pokémon that had to run some errands.

"It's fine. I ought to visit the ol' man, anyway."

 _Oh no_ just got amplified by ten. I'd never seen their interactions in person, but the assistants at the lab said I should consider myself lucky that I haven't. Giving into the gym leader who was definitely older and stronger than me (both physically and in my Pokémon team), I let him walk back to Pallet with me.

* * *

"Ah, Leo!" Mr. White, my 'boss' and the man I'm an assistant to, greeted me as I walked in. "You're back soon! And oh, Blue!'" His voice shook a bit at the end there, as did everyone who realized what was about to go down. "It certainly has been a while!"

"I was just walking the kid back. Is the old man around?"

 _I'm seventeen._

Mr. White nodded. There were visible balls of sweat rolling down his face. "Uh, yes, he's in the back. Leo, did you get what we needed?"

I nodded. I pulled the package out of my bag and the batteries. Mr. White took them and placed them on his deck. "Do me a favor and replace the batteries, will you? And here's the next list you've got." He handed me a list of assorted Pokémon. I nodded, taking the list and folding it into my pocket. My desk, which was just a small table off to the side of Mr. White's, had the camera I needed on it. I slung it around my neck.

This is what my job was, usually. Professor Oak would send my boss, Mr. White, a list of Pokémon. And he would give those to me. And that would be my job—getting pictures of these Pokémon. Sometimes I'd have to go to the routes and forests around to get pictures of them, other times it would just be in the yard.

"The professor is just out back. Leo will take you, right, Leo?" Mr. White looked at me.

I nodded, nervously. I think I was getting dumped to watch what apparently was not a pretty sight. Oh, joy. Making sure my camera was fully charged, I led Blue through the lab and out the back door. I'm pretty sure he knew the way through the place, he grew up in the lab, but it was a bit politer this way? I guess?

Professor Oak was feeding a group of Pidgey when we got out. He turned upon hearing the door shut, gave me a quick smile before turning to Blue. His face fell, turned stone cold. I'd known the professor as a bit kooky at times, a moody kind of dude who could get angry quickly if something didn't go right but was ecstatic the next moment when he learned something new, but I'd never seen this face before.

"Ah, Blue. It's great to see you again." The bowl of Pidgey food was set calmly on the ground. "I got your message. I assume that's why you're here?"

Blue nodded.

This is when I decided to take out my list and ditch Blue. I didn't care about what they were going to talk about, the list had a lot of Pokémon and there were only so many hours in the day and only so many times I allowed myself to run back into the lab and get another memory card. Taking too many pictures was never anyone really ever hated, but when it got chilly and the drafts started coming in and making the lab colder than it had to be, people got upset.

My first stop was Weedles. With photographing Pokémon, sometimes you have to stay out of sight to get the pictures. Especially with wild ones. Urban Pokémon don't mind getting their pictures taken- the two Meowth we have at the lab are absolute camera hogs. They love the attention. For a Weedle, you have to stay low and be calm, because any kind of jerky movement could upset them and you could end up with a poison stinger in your hand.

 _Click-click. Click-click._ I snapped a few pictures of the bug-types, sitting comfortably close to them, trying to be gentle to not upset them. The conversation from Professor Oak and his grandson, unfortunately, carried through the yard. It wasn't as clear where I was, but I could hear some bits of it.

"…Is it true?"

"…Don't know… There was Johto a while ago… Could be back…Where's Red?"

"Who knows…he doesn't need to deal with this, anyway."

"But he…"

"…took down a criminal gang when he was twelve? Yeah, and…it messed him up. If they _are_ back, the police can take care of them…"

"Gramps— "

"…None of us know where he is. Drop it, Blue."

I tried to focus (ha-ha! A photography puns!) but their conversation was a bit distracting. No. It was _very_ distracting. I crossed Weedle off my list and moved on to the Rattata, which were a bit closer to the conversation.

"If they _are_ back— "

"Hopefully they aren't." Professor Oak sighs. "If they are, we can only hope Red comes back from wherever he is and helps if the police aren't able to do their job."

It clicked what they were talking about. I got a few of the Rattata before the small Pokémon became more interested in me and began playing with the strings on my hoodie and the lanyard around my neck. A couple of years ago, when I was, like, barely able to walk and talk on my own, there was Team Rocket. This evil gang stole Pokémon and terrorized people with no end goal in mind. They disbanded after Red, the youngest Kanto champion at twelve, defeated their leader. And that was that. A few years ago, there had been a "Rocket Scare" in Johto, they got together to try and contact their leader, but the stand-in champion Lance and some kid named Crystal stopped them. And that was that.

Every few years there's a scare of _Oh, no! What if Team Rocket is returning_? But they never turn out to be true. Yet hearing it from Blue Oak, of all people…

Oh dear, it sends shivers down a person's spine just thinking about it.

You know what, though? It's not my problem, right? If it hasn't affected me directly then it should not be my problem. Snapping a few more pictures of the Rattata being _just too cute_ , I crossed them off the list and moved onto the next.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to my Pokémon fanfiction, _Patchwork!_**

 **Wait, what do you mean "you've seen this before"? Well, maybe you have...And maybe you haven't. To be honest, I used to have this fic up on my profile but I haven't updated it in _forever_ , and in re-reading it after LGPE's come out, it renewed an interest in me to write it! (Plus I had to edit the outline, I messed up in it on accident, oops).**

 **I've changed the name of the main character from "Theo" (my name) to "Leo" (not my name) because I don't want it to be too obviously a self-insert anymore, hahaha.**

 **Keep reading this author's note if you want, this one is gonna get a wee bit rambly.** **I need to explain a few things, probably.**

 **There _will_ be LGBTQ+ content/themes in this fanfiction. I won't say anything too spoilerly, but there will be a nonbinary character appearing soon with they/them pronouns, so please don't get on my case about it! Also, if you couldn't tell, there will be a bit of Red/Blue (Oak, obviously), but it's not the big end-game ship. I won't spoil too much on that ;)**

 **There will be a lot of my own headcanons, and headcanons I've adopted throughout tumblr in this story. More or less worldbuilding facts (especially concerning Team Rocket, and their relationship with pesky twelve-year-olds, though the main characters are 17-18), but there will be a few personal headcanons in this story as well, stuff about Pokémon biology, taking care of Pokémon, reasons why people might stop their trainer's journey, how certain characters may behave or act, etc.**

 **Our main boy Leo is a _bit_ of an unreliable narrator. It's written in a way to convey the feeling that Leo is _telling_ the audience the story directly, not writing it down in a fancy-smancy memoir or whatever after his adventures are done. On the same topic of Leo, he is very anxious and awkward, and part of this fic will explore breaking down his comfort zone and making him realize that he has had a lot of people treat him like shit before, but also t here are people out there who would generally care for him.**

 **Author's note _over_ , Theo out~**


	2. Predicament

_**\- 2 -**_

 _ **"Predicament"**_

* * *

October 2nd was just the beginning of the end. As I finished transporting the final pictures onto the computer hard drives, it all went wrong. Because, of course it did.

I was the last in the lab that night. Everyone had left, Professor Oak had retired to his bedroom (a loft above the lab, he was really dedicated to his job), and I was just supposed to turn off the lights and make sure the door locked behind me.

Lounging a bit in Mr. White's amazing rolling chair (the man has back problems, poor him, but it makes my late-night photo transfer job more comfortable), I scrolled through some of the more personal pictures I took with the personal memory card I had. Callalied, my one Pokémon and my amazing little Gastly, was floating around, waiting with me. I hated being alone, and Callalied was fonder of the night.

"Hey, Cal, look at this picture." I motioned for the ghost-type to float over. He looked over my shoulder. It was a picture I'd taken earlier of a Tauros, leaning down to sniff a small Rattata. He grinned at it and made is usual chucking sound, a sound of positivity. "Is it Portfolio-worthy?"

Sure, I was working at Professor Oak's lab, but I didn't want to _stay_ there. I wanted to go into freelance, to get hired by magazines and newspapers that would showcase my work in them. And the best way to do that was with a portfolio of my best work, of course! Even though my best work was centered around Pokémon, I had a few other things, too—my younger cousin's trainer school graduation photos (he's somewhere in Johto now, I think); a wedding of my mom's friends, a few other photos I've taken myself on nights where I was hit with overwhelming inspiration—but most of it was Pokémon.

Cal nodded his amorphous body. It was a yes for him. I glanced at the loading screen, and it was still only 63% done. It felt like it'd been like that for an hour.

I sat up, setting my camera down on the desk, when I heard a crash. Now, in a lab setting, crashes aren't good. Especially if it sounded like shattering glass as well. Cal was already looking around for the noise as I jumped up.

Who could that have been? Professor Oak was known to come into the lab random hours of the night if something had come upon him or if he needed a distraction, but he'd at least turn a light on. And not smash anything.

I grabbed the closest thing I could to a weapon (Pokémon aren't always a safe bet if someone broke in with a bat), which was a camera tripod. It was sturdy enough, I suppose. I held it like a weapon and made my way through the lab.

There it was- the source of the strange crash. A broken window, glass everywhere on the ground surrounded by an average-sized rock. Huh. Weird. Why'd someone break a window?

Cal hissed at something behind me, and I turned around. There was the source of the broken window. It was a person, dressed in all-black, who was holding a Pokeball towards me.

My eyes widened. Shit. Literally, shit. My mouth went try and I felt my tongue turn to iron, I was too afraid to speak, to move. Thanks, general anxiety and cowardice, you really helped me out here. The person wore all black (best for breaking into places at night) and their hair was hidden by a black cap. "Alright, where is it?" They demanded.

"W-What? Where is what?" I was an assistant to an assistant. All I did was run errands and take pictures for everyone! "I'm sorry, I don't— "

"The coordinates. The coordinates to _him._ You work here, right?" The person stepped closer, unafraid to make noise now. Cal floated in-between us, and glared, but the burglar didn't seem much affected by it.

"Y-yeah, but I just- I just t-take pictures— "

"Damn it." The person sighed. "Maybe you can still be of use." He threw his Pokeball into the air, releasing a Koffing. The lab immediately became filled with a putrid stench, and I coughed. Gross. Koffing are cool Pokémon, but not for confined spaces like a Pokémon Laboratory. "Koffing, smokescreen!"

The lab was immediately filled with a thick, black smoke. It almost felt like the place was on fire. I coughed the moment I inhaled it, and I quickly used my sweatshirt to cover my mouth so I could hopefully breathe a little better. I couldn't see at all, either. The person made loud, clattering steps towards me.

Ah. They want to take me as a hostage, or something? I quickly ducked from their grasp and slid under a table. The burglar rammed their hip straight into it due to the momentum, but I didn't let myself wince for them and kept moving low to the ground, where the visibility was at least a little bit better.

There was a bit clearer air near my desk, and I quickly grabbed what I could to try and defend myself, but I dropped my tripod by the burglar and I didn't want to go back that way. I grabbed my camera, maybe I could throw it at the person's head? I hated the thought of breaking it, but I had to get away.

The burglar easily found me (not that I was hiding). They grabbed for me again, and I slipped in holding the camera. The camera _clicked_ , and I forgot I had the flash on, and it flashed right into the person's eyes.

"Damn it, how bright _is_ that thing?" The person screamed, rubbing their eyes. Temporary blindness seemed to halt them for but a second, and despite squinted eyes they jumped for me again.

"Spearow! Peck!" A new voice rang out. A blur flew through the air and hit the burglar straight on the head. They cried out in pain, stumbled back and hit the other side of their hip on the table. Youch.

Professor Oak, and his army of Spearow and Pidgey, had come to my rescue. Two Pidgey were gusting the smokescreen out of the lab, with a fainted Koffing in the background, while Spearow flew back to the old professor and landed on his outstretched arm.

"Damn it! Nothing is going right!" The burglar complained, pulling out another Pokeball. The Pokémon they released now was an Abra. "Teleport!"

Before we could stop it, the person was gone. They left their Koffing behind, fainted in the middle of our lab. Cal flew towards me, crying ghostly tears. I felt a few slide down my cheek, too, that was too much stress and too much _anything_ in one day.

"Leo, are you okay?" Professor Oak rested a hand on my shoulder, looking into my eyes.

"I'm- I'm fine." I hiccupped between tears. Okay, sure, I was crying, but that's my natural response to anything. Happiness, sadness, anger, stress, fear… "I'm s-sorry, I probably w-woke you up-" It was probably loud enough for him to wake up, oh god, I felt even more terrible—

"You shouldn't apologize, Leo." Professor Oak sighed. Yup, he knew I was okay, that was great. "I was already awake. Your Gastly came and got me before anything bad happened."

Cal nodded, sporting a heroic grin, before nuzzling into my cheek. I wrapped my arms around him and held tight. Fun and unrelated fact, Ghost Pokémon give the best hugs ever.

"What happened?"

"I was—I was t-transferring photos over. And t-the person must've b-broke through the window. T-They were looking for coordinates to 'him'. Who's 'him'?"

Professor Oak sighed. He grabbed Mr. White's chair and rolled it over so he could sit down. "Red's. The coordinates are Red's."

I thought he didn't know where the runaway champion was. I didn't want to bring it up. Plus, that was in the conversation with Blue that I definitely shouldn't have overheard. Oops. He continued, anyway.

"I have his coordinates, I know where he is. But I promised him I wouldn't tell a soul, only his mother." He explained. "Red wanted to go off by himself. He sent me a package, years ago, with his Pokédex and his coordinates in them. Told me to not tell anyone but his mother where he was. He needs to be alone."

"W-Why—Why would someone want to know where h-he was?"

"If what my grandson said is true, I can only imagine." Professor Oak sighed. "Leo, use the phone and call your mother. You're going to have to be here when the police are here."

I nodded. Of course. Just my luck.

* * *

My mother wasn't bothered by it at all. She seemed more upset that her son had woken her up with a phone call than the fact her son almost got taken by some weird dude in black. Thanks, Mom.

The policeman who talked to me was very nice. He understood that I was visibly upset after everything had happened. I tried my best to explain what had happened to him. I told him exactly what I told the Professor. That someone broke in, looking for some data the Professor had. I didn't specify _what_ the Professor had. Just some data, or something. And that I didn't know where it was when they cornered me, and they tried to take me hostage. And then Professor Oak came in with his mighty bird army and saved me! Unfortunately, they teleported away before we could get them.

"Do you know what he looked like?"

I thought for a moment. "I think they were, um, they were kinda tall. Their nose was crooked a bit. I couldn't see their eyes, but they were pretty dark too. A-and he was pale, too, and… Maybe black hair? Brown hair? I'm- I'm sorry, it was r-really dark when he attacked."

"It's fine. It's something to go off." The officer looked at his notepad. "A crooked nose?"

I nodded. It was a crooked nose, crooked slightly to the left as if it had been punched that way and never fixed.

"Thank you, Leo." The officer said. "I can promise you we will do our best to try and catch this criminal. Do you need a ride home?"

I shook my head. Professor Oak had offered me the couch to sleep on for the rest of the night, it had gotten too late for me to walk anywhere, despite it being one route. And the dude might still try to grab me if he's still close by and knows what I look like.

That was that. They left, leaving me in the lab to myself, Professor Oak already gone to his handy little loft.

However, my body was full of adrenaline and I was much too awake to even think about shutting my eyes. Or I was overtired and just overthinking everything. Cal forced himself out of his Pokeball and nuzzled me again, clearly worried about me.

"I'm fine, Cal," I said. "Well, not fine, I guess. But I'm okay. Thank you." The ghost type nodded, before floating off into the lab. I stood up from the uncomfortable chair and made my way to collect my bag, that I'd left by my small desk.

Cal floated around my camera, grabbing the lanyard with his teeth before pulling it out. He had just become strong enough to solidify enough to pick up solid objects and touch things, but since he was a floating orb he could only really just use his mouth to pick things up. He floated it over and handed it to me.

"Thanks, Cal." He grinned and chuckled at me. I looked at my camera for a moment, lucky the flash was on to temporarily blind the burglar. It was an accident that I pressed the button, but oops?

Wait. I pressed the button. I _pressed_ the _button_. There was a click and a flash. My eyes widened, and I quickly turned my camera on to see what had come out. There was a photo on my camera of the burglar. Why didn't I think of this before?

I switched modes and saw it. It wasn't that pretty of a picture, the facial expression the burglar had on was very hilarious yet grotesque at the same time, caught mid-action. It was a bit blurry, too, but you could make out the face, the crooked nose, the bit of brown hair that fell out from the hat they were wearing. It was much clear, too, with the light on his face.

Definitely not one worth the Portfolio. But who knows, it could maybe help the police?

* * *

 **A/N: Nah, Leo, you're not one to go to the police with something. Too much anxiety, man.**

 **Anyway. I actually have like 15 chapters (almost, 14 and half of chapter 15) pre-written and edited with the name change I mentioned last chapter, so it's mostly just me uploading prewritten ones. I'll let you know that I have AO3 (Archive of our Own)under the same username (theotheghostkid) where I update 10x more frequently, but if you're only here for Pokémon then this is the place for you~**

 **But what does this mean, a mysterious person in black? Trying to kidnap Leo? What are the coordinates? All will be revealed in due time, my faithful readers, it will all be revealed soon... Unless you read Patchwork when it first came out and then you _know_ somewhat of what's going on, hahaha.**

 **Next time; Leo gets a new job.**


	3. Preparation

_**\- 3 -**_

 _ **"Preparation"**_

* * *

There's something that Professor Oak does that some people might be familiar with. He gives out starter Pokémon to people who decide to apply to go on a journey. Personally, I never applied to do that thing, and now that I have Cal registered with my license, I'm not qualified.

But early in the morning shifts, he takes in kids and teenagers who've decided to maybe take up the gym challenge, maybe want to travel and become the strongest, to do their heart's content with a starter Pokémon they might not have been able to get normally.

I still hadn't gone home, but I had managed to doze off with Cal a couple hours after the incident. The ghost-type hadn't returned to his Pokeball, either—he was worried about me, I suppose. I was worried about myself, and that I hadn't yet turned in the photo of the burglar.

Why was I so hesitant about it? It made no sense to why I was waiting, why I didn't _want_ to, I wanted the guy caught, right? But there were other things to do, and it slipped my mind for a few moments before coming back. I should probably turn it in, soon, but I still didn't want to?

It made no sense to me whatsoever. Plus, I had to help Professor Oak get ready for the trainers that would be coming in to get their starters.

Starters which include common ones like Pidgey, Rattata, and Caterpie, or the rare ones, Squirtle, Charmander or Bulbasaur. The latter actually tend to cost money to reserve ahead of time because of how rare they are nowadays, fun fact.

"So, who will be coming in today?" I asked as I swept the floor. For some reason, the incident last night made me feel a bit… calmer around the professor. Or, at least, not as nervous as I usually was.

"Three trainers. They reserved their starters, and they'll be here soon." Professor Oak explained. He pulled out his paper. "Ryan, Aster and Citrine."

Wow, what pretentious names. Wait, Citrine? "Citrine Anders?" I asked, my voice raising nervously.

"Yes. Do you know her?"

 _Unfortunately._ "Y-yeah, she's my… my cousin." I hadn't seen her in years. She and her mom, brother, and step-dad moved to Johto four years ago. Last I heard of her, she was working with a modeling company of some sort. But I thought she already had a Pokémon?

"Citrine is a part of a project the League started this year." Professor Oak explained as he reached into our handy-dandy Pokeball Storage Machine (patent pending) and found the three Pokeballs for the starters. "It's some sort of… reality show. I'm not entirely sure. They're filming everything, I think, and the camera crew will be here later."

"Oh. Even _better._ "

"The other two, however, are not part of the show." Professor Oak sighed. Good, good. That's always good. I nodded, sweeping the last of the dirt and glass into a dustpan.

This was going to be a pretty cool thing, I think. I never had to come in this early (well, I didn't come in, I just never went home) to work at all. So, I always missed seeing starters being given away and new trainers being sent off on their merry way. Especially not the starters that you have to _reserve_ , the three famous starters that Professor Oak has to order off from a rare breeder near Mt. Silver. It was exciting, it made my mood just a little bit brighter then. I'd probably see myself out by the time Citrine came along, but I'd get to see two people claim their starters today!

"Oh, Leo." Professor Oak looked up from his desk a few moments later. He was tinkering with his newest edition of the Pokédex. The Pokédex he doesn't give out to _anybody_. (Contrary to it, though, people who reserve starters get a complimentary Pokédex, but they're already filled out and just have nice detailed information in it already. "I have a request to ask of you."

I looked up from sweeping, and cocked my head. What kind of request?

"As you know, the next edition of the Pokédex is being worked on." He set it down to prove his point, before standing up and rubbing his oily hands on his lab coat. Don't worry, he has twenty of the same white lab coat. "But there is important data missing from it. The first Pokédex had my grandson and his friend, but the information needs updated, as do the display photos."

Oh? This was strange. I'd never really heard much about the Pokédex either before this, just that it was the thing people use in the TV shows to identify Pokémon. I never had an interest in it, my focus was on cameras. (Oops, another pun, hahaha!)

"I would like to ask you to do that for me." Professor Oak said.

…what.

What?

What?

I blinked. "U-um, wait, please, explain it to me a bit more?" I couldn't believe what he was saying. He couldn't possibly mean me, shy and anxious Leo, go out and meet every single Pokémon there is?

"There would be payment for this, of course." The professor explained. "You would go around Kanto and photograph every Pokémon you can. Think of this as… a commission for your portfolio."

Traveling Kanto. Taking photos of every Pokémon. It's a dream come true, how lucky would I have to be for this? It was almost unbelievable. It seemed too good. And I'd get _paid_ for it?

"I… I don't know what to say." I said honestly. "This is just – it feels too unreal."

"If you would like some time to think on it— "

"No! I mean, um, sorry, but no, I definitely want to go!" Cal, who had floated by my head, nodded in delight. "I guess I just…" There would be so much to prepare for! So much stuff to get together. "…There'd be so much to do to get ready, wouldn't there? I'd have to make sure my license was renewed, a-and I'd-"

"Of course. Take your time, Leo." Professor Oak said. "You don't have to go out immediately. The faster you get out the— "

Too late. I was already bolting towards Viridian to get my stuff together.

* * *

Now, if there's something else you need to know about me, is that I have unnecessarily bad timing. I ended up arriving back at the lab a few hours later, just at the precise moment when _she_ was here.

 _She_ is my cousin, Citrine. You might think that's a weird name, but in Kanto, that's just how naming goes. My name is considered unusual in Kanto, in fact, but that's not the point because I ran into Citrine, who worked as a model for a small company for a bit before ending up somehow back in Kanto on a television show.

And they'd just finished filming the first part of their pilot episode. Oh joy.

I walked in, saw the cameras, and was about to promptly walk out when I heard, "Is that who I think it is?"

 _Oh, Arceus_ is just an understatement. In the last few years since I last saw my cousin, I'd like to say she's changed a bit. Taller. Her hair was a shade orange-r than before (she'd argue with you its strawberry blonde, but it looked as orange as a Charmander), she had pounds of makeup on her face, but on the bright side, she had the same disdain and condescending look in her eyes when she spotted me.

"You're still working here, huh, Leo?" She asked, crossing her arms.

I gulped. "Oh, hi, Citrine…" I said quietly, my eyes kept closely on cameras. I liked to be on only _one_ side of them, mind you, and the side I like was definitely not the front! "...A-and it's only been a few years…"

Four. It's been four years. But I liked it at the laboratory!

"Hmph. Figures, knowing you." She looked me up and down. "Still in the obnoxious 'yellow hoodie' phase?"

"It's not- it's not _obnoxious_." The yellow hoodie I wore ever had faded a bit, it wasn't as highlighter-esque as it had been before, in my defense.

She rolled her eyes as a man I didn't know walked over. He was dressed in a red velvet suit (the color of the cake, not actually velvet…hopefully) and had his hair held back by a lot of gel. Oh, and these ridiculously cool black sunglasses. Like, from that one meme, but not pixelated and _real_ , and yeah, I was jealous, they looked cool. "Ah, Citrine, do you know this prepubescent boy?"

 _I'm only seventeen…._

"Yes, this is my cousin. Leo."

The man nodded. He took my hand (that wasn't even outstretched) and shook it tightly. "A pleasure to meet you, Leo. You can call me The Director. If you weren't aware, this is a filming location at the moment, and we still need some time to clean up. So, if you don't mind— "

"He's fine." Professor Oak said, stepping out of the shadows. "Leo works for me. He's just here to get some things."

The Director nodded. Wow, what a cool alias to go by, too. The dude was emanating cool waves. "Yes, of course, Apologies, Professor. Carry on, Leo."

I nodded. As I turned to squeeze past some of the (beautiful, glorious, lovely) camera equipment, I was stopped by Citrine yelling, "Wait!". Everyone froze for the princess. "Leo, I'm going to challenge you to a battle!"

Um.

I turned around.

"W-What?" I stuttered out.

The Director scratched his chin, before nodding. "Hmm, yes, Citrine, this is a good idea." He turned to the people just beginning to pack up the equipment. "Alright, stop what you're doing. We're going to veer off-script a bit and have a battle." A few grumbles.

Oh no, this wasn't good. My heartbeat skyrocketed, and I backed into the wall without realizing it. A couple of books fell off a table near me after I knocked my hip on it. I had a feeling this wasn't going to be a good idea. I was going to be on _TV?_ I'm just Professor Oak's assistant's assistant, I'm just a random kid. I didn't want to do this, but the glare from my cousin was enough to set me in my place.

Welp. I didn't have a choice.

"Impatient teens and having battles in my lab…" Professor Oak mumbled to himself. He looked at me. "You know where everything important is. Please don't try and destroy anything."

I nodded. "O-Of course not, Professor." If anything got destroyed it would be the fault of Citrine and her… She released a Charmander.

Of course she did, had to go with the favourite. Personally, when I got to take the pictures, Bulbasaur was the most-easy going and chill with it. The Charmander, however, immediately recognized me and ran over to hug my leg.

"H-hey, buddy…" I pat his head. "Go over to Citrine, okay? We're going to battle now."

Another plus of being out in the field with Pokémon all the time—they know me, I know them. It's mutual understanding. He nodded, with a determined, mischievous grin on his face, before running off to stand by Citrine. He was the most energetic of the three starters that I'd managed to get pictures of, and I was happy to see him go to a good home, too.

Citrine may be a bit condescending and mean, but she knows how to treat Pokémon with respect. Hopefully.

"Alright! Let's get this battle on the road!" The Director chimed in, clapping his hands. The cameras were turned towards me and Citrine, and Charmander, too.

I gulped. "C-Cal, come on o-out." I released my Gastly from his Pokeball. He looked a bit confused at the sight around him, but he saw Charmander ready to fight, and he shook himself out of his snooze and got ready for a fight.

I'd let Citrine have the first move. It was the polite thing to do, not just because she was a lady. But also, because I couldn't remember any of Cal's moves off the top of my head to call out first.

"Alright, Charlie!" Citrine said. "Use Ember!"

The Charmander looked at her confused. He wasn't a high enough level to have learned that.

"Do you not know it?" Charlie shook his head. "Alright, fine, then scratch!"

Okay, she was not very adept in battling. How did she manage to get this TV show gig again? Charlie, confused, nodded anyway and jumped into the air to scratch Cal…

…only for the move to go right through him. So much for that, huh?

"What the _hell_?"

"N-Normal type m-moves don't affect g-ghost types!" I mumbled, probably not loud enough to be picked up on the cameras. "C-Cal, use lick!"

Cal darted through the air, got his semi-corporal tongue out and gave Charlie a big ol' lick. Ew, gross, I know, but Cal was only about level six and knew three movies, okay? Charlie shuddered but shook it off, quickly enough.

Citrine grimaced. This wasn't going as well for her as she thought. "Charlie, keep trying to scratch it! It has to hit sometime, right?"

She _really_ didn't understand type-matchups, did she? She kept trying, at least, or she was trying to play the part of the "inexperienced beginner", or whatnot.

"L-Lick, again, C-Cal!" I said meekly. Cal nodded and dove into giving Charlie another good ol' lick. Sorry, Charlie. Charlie shuddered again and shook it off again, but he was still a bit tense.

Ah, the symptoms of a paralysis coming on. Working in a laboratory, you tend to learn a lot of things. I was the photographer, but I was also the one around Pokémon the most. Not to mention the lab is the only place in Pallet that has a machine that can heal Pokémon. Trainers usually come from nearby routes to do that.

And for her first televised battle, Citrine was acting like a newbie. Again, it could've been just an act, and if it was, wow, she was really good and it makes sense why they picked her. The Director was stoic, I noted, glancing at him as my dear cousin yelled out another chorus of "Scratch!"

We could've been there forever. If it weren't for the fact that Cal had a level or two over Charlie and managed to knock down the fire-type eventually. After, like, ten minutes of licking. When the battle was over and Cal returned to my side, he pouted, as if to say, _Charmanders don't taste good._

Citrine was in shock, but she quickly composed herself. "You may have won this time, Leo, but when we meet again I will be stronger!" She said like a heroine.

I nodded. Yeah, okay. I doubt it but yeah, okay.

"…And, cut!" The Director said. He didn't show any other emotion. "Citrine, darling, that was an amazing first battle for the show. A bit slow, but that'll be fixed in post." Then, he turned to me. "Leo, I expect to see you out on the road with us."

"O-oh, no, I won't—" Oh yeah, I will. "U-um, yeah, okay." Great. I'll be on TV.

Citrine didn't seem too pumped with the idea. As soon as The Director walked away, she stomped over to me and grabbed me by the shoulder. Rather tightly, I might add. "Look, Leo. Don't let this battle get to your head, okay? You just had an advantage. Next time you won't be so lucky." Citrine paused. She laughed, like she'd just said a joke, but she didn't. "Of course, if you even last a day out there!"

Ah, that's the girl I missed. Hahaha, sarcasm, I didn't really miss her at all. Her crude remarks were the worst, she was snobbish and insufferable…Gosh, if only I had the courage to fight back against her, but nope. I'm kinda small and easily frightened. But I managed to say something pretty cool, if I do say so myself.

"Take good care of Charlie."

Alright, so maybe I mumbled it and was more like, "J-just take good care of Charlie, o-okay?". But this is my story and I can make myself seem cooler than I actually am. That's how these work, right?

* * *

 **A/N: And _enter Citrine!_ Also known as the cousin-that-I-may-have-based-off-someone-I-know-IRL-but-shh-rival that I actually enjoy writing. Don't worry, Citrine isn't as abusive to Pokémon as many of the other rivals in the early gens (I'm calling _you out,_ Silver) are. She is, after all, going to be on television with this gig of hers, so she should behave herself and the Kanto League is paying her, so she has to show a good example for the little kiddies. Doesn't mean she can't be Jake Paul-ing on everyone, though, and that sums her character up the best, I think. Almost. There's also a bit of trauma hidden under the layers between Citrine and Leo, so that'll be fun to write. **

**Also, before anyone _yells_ at me about how all these characters have weird names, like _Citrine, may I remind you that there are literally characters known as Red, Blue, Green, Silver,_ and _Gold_ in the Pokéverse. I think it's a Pokémon world thing to give your children names like _Silver_ and _Gold_ , or at least, they're more common. Which leaves Leo as a bit of an oddball now, because he was in class with people named _Pearl_ and _Yellow_ and _Purple_ and his name is Leonard. Just a fun world-building idea that I won't flesh out anywhere except in my author's note. **

**The fact that Leo is mistaken for being much younger is an unfortunate experience I've faced too many times. _No,_ random lady at the supermarket, I'm not in eighth grade, I'm a _college student_ , I'm 18, I know I don't look it. Geez. Stupid baby-face syndrome. **

**Does the job make sense for Leo? I mean, in this world, the Pokédex comes with personalization features that allow the user to take notes and snap their own (low-quality) photos that are sent to the Professor's lab for interns and assistants to sift through, but there need to be like, basic pictures of Pokémon as well in the Pokédex that are high-quality. I just want to incorporate my love of storytelling and photography into my love of Pokémon, and this fanfiction is the result, I suppose!**

 **Next time; Leo makes a friend...?**


	4. Placid

_**\- 4 -**_

 _ **"Placid"**_

* * *

"Now that that…fiasco is over with." Professor Oak let out a long sigh. "Here are the things you need for the journey ahead."

I felt special; I had beat Citrine in a battle (only because I had an advantage), and I was chosen to go on a special mission by Professor Oak! I just hoped I wouldn't end up messing everything up in the process. He turned to his desk, grabbing a folder and a tablet.

"I assume you'll be taking your camera, right?" I nodded, Cal was currently holding it because…well, he just went and grabbed it, that's why. He handed me the folder first. It was yellow, nice- favorite color there. "These are just some papers for reference. Some of them detail locations of harder-to-find Pokémon, some of them are passes you can use to get to places someone might not normally get to spend much time in, such as the Safari Zone, and an application for your license renewal and an application for a passport."

"Passport?"

Professor Oak shrugged. "You never know."

I… I guess he had a point.

He handed me the tablet next. It was barely thicker than the folder itself, which was pretty thin already. "This is what you can take notes on. Record as much data as you can, along with the pictures. My assistants will work with you more on this aspect of the project, combining your data with the data we currently have in order to make the next version more accurate. It's pretty durable…" He proves its durability by bending it in front of me. It bends in to a perfect curve, before flipping back out. "…But if it gets damaged somehow, call me."

I nodded, taking the tablet. It slid perfectly into the pocket of the folder. "Anything else I need to know?"

He shook his head. "That's all, for now, I suppose. I would recommend stopping by your house and saying goodbye to your mother before you leave, at least." He rested a hand on my shoulder, gently. It stung a bit from Citrine's terrible grip earlier, but I didn't flinch. Maybe I twitched a bit, but I didn't flinch. "Don't just hide in the woods all day for Pokémon. Some Pokémon live in urban areas, you know. Get out, be social, try to make friends. Take advantage of this opportunity, but remember to do your work as well."

Wow, my mentor was giving me a lecture on making friends. Thanks, Professor Oak. I nodded for a third time, nonetheless. "Yessir!"

"Alright, Leo. Your adventure is about to begin. Good luck out there!"

It was. It was starting.

A dream come true. I turned on my heel, slid the folder into my bag (which was already packed), and grabbed my camera, ready to face the world.

Unfortunately, as soon as I took a step outside I fell flat on my face. My sneaker had become untied. But that's okay, no one saw it and Cal totally didn't laugh at me for it. Well, maybe _Cal_ saw and laughed, but I was okay! Really! And what better way to start a new adventure than Leo-style?

* * *

Route 1. It's a short route full of basic Pokémon that I'm sure the lab has a ton of data on, along with the few surrounding Viridian. I wrote down basic observations of the Pokémon on the route before breaking out the camera.

Oh, it was still stuck on the picture-viewing mode. It was still stuck on the burglar. Their face looked even more hilarious in this instance, for some peculiar reason. I didn't delete the picture; I just switched modes so I could take pictures of the Pokémon.

And that was the rest of my day. I took pictures of the Pokémon on the route until I ran out of storage (that's how I do it), and by the time that happened, the sun had climbed over the horizon and was shining golden through the slightly-color-changing leaves. I couldn't help but take a picture of that, too. Hey, my Portfolio doesn't have to be all Pokémon related.

I began to make my way to Viridian as that picture was snapped. Cal was out of his Pokeball after a nice nap after his _tiring battle_ (and the few he had to fight, wild Pokémon can be a bit aggressive sometimes, I know) and he was floating and enjoying the warm sun, even if it made his visible form fade a bit.

That's what I found so cool about Ghost-types. Did you know, if a Ghost-type doesn't have a lot of mass as a physical body, shining bright lights onto them distorts and fades the physical body a bit? That's really the reason why Ghost-types aren't out a lot in the day, along with evolving to become nocturnal, they can't be seen well in brightly lit places. In deep forests and urban areas, it's easier to live, and that's what led the Gastly line to mostly adapting to more urban settings, like cities.

Sometimes you can still find Gastly out in the dark, but that's at night.

Walking through the route, with just the sounds of the Pokémon echoing through the late afternoon air, the smell of changing seasons (despite the trees not showing it) …It was great. I could get used to this.

Of course- I never have gone further than Pewter. And that was on a trip with Mr. White. Who, might I add, has a level forty Heracross. Nothing messed with us that time, but this time it was just me and Cal against the world.

Or so I thought because just as I could see Viridian in the distance, I heard a screech, and someone fell out of a tree in front of me. I halted in my steps. It definitely wasn't an acorn. It was a kid, maybe my age. Their hair was dyed blue, you could tell because their roots were still brown. "What the _hell_?" They screamed, sitting up. And then their Pokémon (or what I assumed to be their Pokémon) fell on them, forcing them back down. "I hate flying-types so damn much!"

The Pokémon—Bulbasaur! —grunted in agreement. She shook her head, trying to get the leaves out of her bulb, before noticing me. Her eyes widened, and she chirped at me in excitement.

"Hey, girl." I squatted down as she ran to me and rubbed my leg. So, this must've been one of the trainers who came before Citrine—which means that neither of them chose Charmander willingly, now that I think about it.

"Di, come on, don't just…" The person finally noticed me. "Oh, did I fall in front of you? Sorry."

"You're f-fine!" Social interaction? Welcome back, anxiety and nervous stutter! "Are you o-okay?"

They nodded. "Yeah. Pidgey, man. A flock of them are brutal." They stood up and brushed off their jeans. "I'm Aster, by the way. Do you now Di?"

"I work—I work with the Professor, a-actually," I said, raising my camera to show what I do. I hated explaining things.

 _Oh, you work for the Professor Oak? You must be really smart! Give me some knowledge?_ Uh, no, sorry, I just take pictures, but I can tell you that fire-types and water-types have glands in them that allow for the dispersal of fire and water, but they don't usually mature until levels six, seven, and so on…

"Oh, that's cool!" Aster said. He paused. "…You wouldn't happen to know the way to Viridian, would you? I'm a bit…lost."

"U-uh, yeah!" I didn't bother questioning why he wouldn't know the way, because, who knows! This kid could be from a totally different part of the world, for all I know. "I-I'm heading there. J-Just- um, yeah, follow me. It's this way."

Obviously. Duh. Ugh, I hate myself sometimes.

Aster followed me blindly, and a bit…loudly. Bulbasaur (Di, now) was returned to her Pokeball and instead of walking silently through the golden hues of the setting sun, the background noise of the forest surrounding us peacefully, Aster started…talking.

And for once it wasn't that _bad_.

"So, what do you do for Professor Oak?" I lifted the camera. He smirked, rolling his eyes. "Not what I meant. What's with the camera?"

"Oh! Um, I help out in t-the lab w-with the camera. I work with the- the technology, I run errands, and I take the p-pictures people need for their research." I cleared my throat. "Sorry, it's kinda boring, I- I know."

"It's not boring!" Aster said. "I find it… interesting. It's different, you know? Most people who work with the professors are, like, wanting to be a scientist or a professor or something one day. But you're different. It's different, it's cool."

I blushed. I'd never been told something like _that_ before. That what I was doing was different, was "cool". I'd heard that it was a stupid job, that it was a nerd's thing, that I should find something better to do with my time, that even taking on the gym challenge was a better use of my time than fiddling with my camera in the woods. My mom, Citrine, friends, strangers, they all think they know what's cool and what's not for me.

Aster was the first person to think what I was doing was cool, just in general.

I'd been silent for too long. I made it awkward already. Aster was looking at me, a bit concerned. "Uh, sorry! It's just, u-uh nobody has ever really said that to me. It was a bit- a bit jarring to hear, that's all."

"Oh." It appears he didn't have any words to counter that. "Well, I think it's cool."

"T-Thank you." I glanced ahead. I could see the outskirts of the city already. The sun had begun to dip, and the light was fading pretty quickly now. "Um, do you need to k-know where the Pokémon Center is?"

The good thing about living in Viridian is that I had a key to a small apartment I shared with my mom, so I didn't have to be in a public place like the Pokémon center. Though, they usually provide traveling trainers with mats and blankets to rest in, which is good, but that's a lot of people in one place.

"That would be great! Thanks, um…"

"Leo!" I hadn't even given Aster _my_ name yet? Inconceivable! Well, that was even more awkward. I'm pretty sure I have a crown in the back of my closet that has "King of Awkward Conversations" written on it, and I'm due to be getting a new one soon, seeing how _this_ is going. "S-Sorry."

"You're fine," Aster said.

* * *

After dropping Aster off at the Pokémon Center and waving farewell, I headed back to our apartment. It was a bit dinky, but Viridian was a bit of a dinky city as well. I released Cal again as the city became dark and the street lights went on, because I felt like it, okay? It wasn't like I was _super paranoid_ or anything in the dark.

Plus, Cal enjoys the night air. It's refreshing to him. And whatever makes him happy makes me happy, too.

I got to my door and dug out my key. The house was quiet, as usual. I opened the door carefully to find a dark home.

"Mom?"

No response. I set my bags down by the door, ready to take them out the next day, and turned some lights on. The same old furniture, the same television, the same kitchen greeted me. Nothing new.

"Moomm?"

Still, no response.

I sighed. Knowing her, she was out again. I probably wouldn't even see her when I left tomorrow morning for the biggest adventure of my life. I didn't know where she was, and I couldn't bring myself to care.

Now, wait. Before you go on and attack me, you'd probably need some context. My mom never had a stable job in the 49 years of her life. She was a massive drifter and met my dad at some bar (I think, I don't know the whole story myself) and the next morning she found out she was pregnant with me. And the only reason she got an apartment was that his family was a rich one and my dad paid her off to keep their one-night stand a secret.

Something to that extent. My mom's still a drifter and leaves every few nights for either job opportunities in Pewter or to bar-hop with friends, ending up passed out in someone else's house. It's been this way since I was 12, I'm fine.

No, I'm not fine but I'm used to it.

"Guess no goodbye from her, huh?" She wasn't home earlier, either. I'd just assumed she was out at one of her part-time jobs.

Cal nuzzled me, comforting the empty feeling in my heart.

"I'm fine." Liar. "Let's just get to bed. A big day tomorrow." Not a lie, though I wasn't exactly tired.

* * *

 **A/N: _Enter Aster!_ I LOVE writing this character so much, you have no idea. Just a bright little ball of sunshine, most of the time, which I feel like foils Leo's personality and it makes them a rather dynamic duo. You _know_ that Aster's going to come up again, I shouldn't have to even say it, hahaha. Though sometimes I do like to throw in random characters every now and then to spice things up, and I live by the idea that if you run into someone, they'll never really leave your life, and maybe one day you'll meet them again in the future! Wouldn't that be pretty neat? **

**Leo's favorite color being yellow is something I find interesting in both him and me (because I, too, am an anxious ball of stress like he is, but also likes yellow). Maybe it's more of a reflection of a person that he could be? Or that he could have been? I'm reading too much into this, I'm going to start psychoanalyzing myself and the purpose of these author's notes are to just explain parts of the chapter that I won't be able to in the future or hint at later chapters.**

 **Leo has parenting problems, go figure. I wonder if that has anything to do with his repressed trauma and anxiety?~**

 **Next time; Leo and Aster cross paths again.**

* * *

 **Trying to fit in a bit of review responses, too, here, so let's try this thing!**

 **Another Useless Mightyena: Hopefully that'll come soon! I have about 14 chapters pre-written already where that _doesn't happen_ yet, but stay tuned!**


	5. Pathos

_**\- 5 -**_

 _ **"Pathos"**_

* * *

Viridian Forest in the morning was very, very beautiful, especially at this time of the year. Some of the leaves were turning orange, yellow, and red, but most of the forest stayed true to its name hue, green. The golden rays of the sun shone through the branches, lighting up blotches of the grass below. It was the perfect time to get pictures.

Unfortunately, I was not a morning person, and with a thermos full of black, heavily caffeinated tea, I began my journey into the forest.

Before leaving the city I used to call my home, I'd also grabbed a few supplies from the Pokémart, including a few spare Pokéballs and a bag of Special Ghost-Type Brand Pokéfood (hard to find, but luckily there was a bag), both of which weighed down my old bag. The straps were going to break soon, but I didn't have the money yet to buy a new one. I felt ready and prepared for this journey, ready and prepared for the first time ever in my life.

Wow, exciting!

The forest echoed with the chirps and scuttles of Pokémon in the underbrush. It was almost peaceful.

"Hey, you!" A voice broke through the trees around me. A young kid with a giant net ran up to me. "You're a trainer, right?"

I froze. "U-Um, yeah, I guess?" I was technically a trainer. But I wasn't much of a fighter, mind you. What I did with Citrine was totally, 100% based on luck, and the fact that Charlie the Charmander hadn't learned how to use ember yet.

"Sweet!" The kid through a Pokeball in the air. Out popped a Caterpie. "Battle me!"

There's this unspoken rule as a trainer that when someone challenges you, you don't just say "no". The worst thing you could say is "maybe later", because maybe your Pokémon are hurt or something. But when you're challenged to a battle, you've either got to win or lose. It's unspoken and I hate it. Even if it was a spoken rule, I would hate it.

But… The upside of trainer battles? Money. I could use a bit more pocket change, I don't have much to my name and Professor Oak said I'd be getting my first check at about the same time I'd probably hit Cerulean.

"O-Okay." I released Cal from the ball. And the battle began.

"Katie, use string shot!" The kid called out. Katie the Caterpie nodded, and shot a sticky webbing towards Cal. He tried to duck out of the way, but a bit of the sticky webbing hit him solidly enough and brought him down.

"C-Cal, g-go in for a lick." I meekly said. Meekly, as in, Cal glanced at me, confused at first, before realizing I was calling out one of his only attacking moves. He nodded, and dove in towards Katie, giving her a big lick.

Yet again, ew.

Katie shuddered, shaking a bit. Ah, Paralysis. One of the assistants at the lab was set upon working out why Paralysis can be caused by a lick, since the move isn't an electric-type move. Apparently when Pokémon lick other Pokémon it's so gross that the licked can become paralyzed with the fact they just got _licked_.

"Katie? You okay?" The kid asked. The Caterpie shook herself clean before nodding, though still thoroughly disgusted and paralyzed. Same, Katie. "Alright, go for a bug bite!"

One of the newest moves discovered, I remembered. A move that allows bugs to nibble on other Pokémon to attack. Cal, still caught up in a bit of sticky webbing, was attacked by the small Caterpie.

I realize the way I'm describing it makes it seem a lot more epic than it actually was. Trust me, it wasn't that cool. It was just two small Pokémon fighting on the forest floor. Another lick, and Katie the Caterpie was down for the count.

"Wow, you beat me!" The kid laughed, handing over a couple of Poke. "Here, take this for winning."

I felt bad.

But I needed the money.

But I felt bad.

So, I took it graciously, and handed the kid one of the Potions I bought. "Here, help your Caterpie out."

The kid's eyes widened. "Wow, thank you!" Taking the potion, he used it on his Caterpie to heal her wounds. Of course, it didn't do much, potions aren't usually that strong, but she did get a little better. "If we run into each other again, I'm taking you down!"

"O-Okay!" Sure. Whatever. I wanted out of these stupid woods.

* * *

I walked a little further after returning Cal to his Pokeball to rest and looked around for a place to set up for the day to get pictures. I'd hope to find one spot in the entire forest, and travel through it when the sun goes down and everyone is trying to get out or find a place to rest, the time of day least likely that one would get involved in a Pokémon battle.

The less social interaction, the better, in my opinion. I found a comfortable little clearing and set up my stuff, which included digging out a camera tripod (just in case) and making sure I had room in my SD card for all of it (which I did).

And now came the waiting game.

Taking photos of wild Pokémon is like trying to fish for wild Pokémon. You have to be patient in waiting for the nibble on the line; you have to be patient in waiting for the right second for the right shot. Patience is usually key for snapping the perfect pictures. It's a doctrine I fabricated for myself, to live on, in the moments when it matters, holding my camera and angling it so the light hits the Pokémon just right, and I can just go…

… _Click._

A wild Caterpie, eating an Oran berry. _Click_.

A flock of Pidgey with a lead Pidgeotto taking a break from flying from who-knows-where in search of a warmer climate for the winter. _Click._

A Pikachu, resting in a tree with another Pikachu. _Click._ That might be Portfolio-worthy.

A trainer's legs standing right in front of my camera. _Cli…_ wait, what?

"I knew I'd run into you again!" Surprise, surprise, it was Aster again. He stood right in front of my lens, his arms crossed and a determined grin on his face. Di the Bulbasaur stood behind him, doing the Bulbasaur kind of giggle, which is more like short breaths in a rapid succession.

"Oh. H-Hi?" It was so great when people decided to interrupt my photo sessions, you know? I tried to hide my annoyance, he probably only meant the best for it. "What- what are you, um, doing?"

Aster shrugged. He turned and plopped in the grass right next to me. "I don't know, really. I'm trying to find a good Pokémon to tackle on the Pewter Gym with, but I'm out of luck."

I nodded. Why was he telling me all of this? Is this how… mentally stable people talked to each other, openly like this?

"I looked it up ahead of time—Rock-type, right?" He didn't wait for a response. "So, Di here has it in the bag, but I'd hoped for another Pokémon before I took it on. It seems unfair to her." Di nodded.

 _So,_ Aster was taking on the Gym challenge too, huh? I wonder if he'd cross paths with Citrine like I did, and get declared a rival, only for it to never happen on TV. The odds of that were slim, Citrine probably didn't have to spend late nights out in the woods like other trainers did. Probably spent her nights in a fancy-as-heck RV on a campsite away from the Viridian Forest. Maybe they'd go out and shoot a few shots for the TV show, to make it seem like Citrine was braving the forest.

That's how reality TV worked, anyway.

"…And then I saw you hanging out here and thought, _man, he looks lonely._ So, I thought I'd come over." Oh, Aster was still talking to me and I missed, like, half of that conversation. Oops. "So, what's up?"

I held up my camera.

"Well, yeah, obviously." Aster rolled his eyes. "But what are you doing with that?"

"T-Taking pictures." I wasn't a talkative kid.

Aster chuckled, apparently this was amusing him. "No, but what are you taking pictures for? I know you work for Oak, but isn't this a bit… far out?"

Oh. _Oh._ "Um, O-Oak gave me a special job. He's, uh, working on his new version o-of the Pokédex. A-And he needs updated p-pictures. A-And he gave me the, um, the job. To do that."

His eyes widened in shock. "What the _hell_? Really?" I was prepared to hear, _Oh, gee, that's stupid._ Or _How boring._ What happens next may shock you, it shocked me. "That's so cool!"

I blinked. It was…cool?

"So, your pictures are going to be in the new Pokédex?"

I nodded, my fingers playing with the buttons on the camera. "Y-Yeah?"

"That's _so_ cool. Wow, dude." Aster grinned at me. "I'm going to have to get a new Pokédex once I become a gym leader so I can have all of your pictures in it."

 _Ahhh_. Someone actually wanted my pictures? Like, a collection of my pictures? This was so new and strange to me, and I felt my face heating up. And, of course, Aster had to point it out.

"Dude, your face is red. You okay?"

"I'm fine!" My voice squeaked and cracked. Youch. No wonder people think I'm prepubescent. Some dudes just have a higher voice, alright? "I'm, um, I'mfine. It's just…" I trailed off.

"Just…?"

"It's just noonehaseverwantedtolookatmypictureslikethat." I coughed, clearing my throat. "Sorry. I, um, I mean that people never just want to, l-like, _look_ at my pictures. It's either t-they hire me for- for, um, weddings and stuff, or I'm just credited a-as an image source in a research paper." No one has ever really commented on my Portfolio, either. Only acknowledged it, or messages like "I saw wedding pictures and wanted to know if you'd like to do my wedding? Xoxox".

Not, like, "I'd love to look at your pictures."

"Aw, dude." Aster gave me a look of pity. I hated it, but for once it also… made me feel a bit better. It was weird. "No offense, but you need better people in your life."

 _I know, wow._ "If you, um, want t-to look at the pictures I have…" I offered in the form of a mumble, handing my camera over. Aster took it, wide-eyed, and held the camera like a newborn baby.

He clicked through some of my photos. His eyes glimmered as he looked through them. The first person to ever acknowledge my pictures were looking through my good shots and my bad shots, thinking thoughts I could only imagine, this was a new experience, what if I messed it up somehow? But Aster cleared away those anxious thoughts with a low sigh, and, "Holy _crap_ , Leo, these are amazing!"

 _Ahhh_. I might've been fishing a bit for compliments, but don't blame me. Much. I was very, very… compliment-starved. And he was really nice about it. And my heart was fluttering and wow, Aster was so nice to some loser like me and it was great.

"Oh." He stopped.

Oh, no. I must've got a weird shot or something he doesn't like or something bad on it and he's not gonna like me anymore—

"Who's this?" He shows me the picture of the burglar. Ah, the picture I still haven't deleted.

I gulped. "Um, nobody! That was, um, on a different camera when I got the SD card." I quickly took the camera back. "I haven't deleted it yet, sorry." I hated lying. But how could I explain that I have a picture of a burglar who tried to kidnap me a few nights ago on my camera and that I haven't turned it into any police yet? I couldn't even explain to myself why I kept it on me.

"Oh. It's a little weird picture, though." Aster laughed, but there was a lack of… sunshine, in the tone. "It kinda looked like…"

"L-Like what?" Did Aster know this person? My heart skipped a beat, if he did then I'd have to admit to lying that I'd taken the picture of someone who had broken into a lab and tried to kidnap me.

"… It's stupid. But the all-black clothes kinda look like a Rocket grunt."

Oh. I guess it did. But I'd never experienced a situation with Team Rocket, the crime syndicate taken down by a twelve-year-old. You know, you've got to wonder about how strong it really was if a twelve-year-old took it down, but I think there was more behind the scenes than what's on Wikipedia.

"W-Weird." I tried to push back the overheard conversation between Professor Oak and Blue the other day. "U-Um, anyway… I should p-probably find a different spot to take p-pictures. For a d-different angle, you know?"

Social interaction limit has been reached. Leo may experience sudden shutdowns from the outside world in general. Moving out of the situation is highly recommended for a higher performance.

"Oh, sure! Let me help you with it."

* * *

Aster was too oblivious to see that I was blatantly trying to ditch him. I didn't even bother protesting, as he had already grabbed my camera tripod from behind me, and Di had picked up my little bag of lenses. I thanked her, picking up the small bag and slinging it across my neck, before grabbing my main bag and my camera.

Aster was surprisingly light company, aside from the questions he kept asking. _Why do you do this? Why do you do that?_ You can't blame him for a natural curiosity. And he kept the trainers off my back, seeing how he'd be the one taking on the Gym challenge, training was good for him.

"How are you at battling, Leo?"

I rolled my eyes, relaxing a bit with the camera in my hand. It felt… natural, what can I say. I shrugged, mumbling, "I don't know. Wanna see?"

He apparently heard my sarcastic jibe. "Oh, ouch, I didn't think you had the capacity for sarcasm."

Oh, gee. "I, um, I d-didn't mean it like that!"

"I'm messing with you." Aster said. "Though… Can I take you up on that challenge?"

The battle?

Oh dear, two battles in one day, plus all this social interaction? Why did Professor Oak think I was the best pick for this job again? Biting on my cheek, I nodded. Because, why not, it's not like I had dug myself a deeper pit. While you may think I've hit rock-bottom at this point already, I've brought a pickaxe and I was ready to mine.

* * *

 **A/N: Aaand that's a wrap for this chapter! This chapter was one of the harder-to-write ones than the ones that flow out like a rapid stream of consciousness, because I wanted to show off a bit more of Leo's capacity for battle. He _can_ do it, and I'm sure if he wanted to, Leo could be really awesome at it, but it's just not what he aspires to do! A lot of little kids have that phase when they want to be a champion because they see other champions or gym leaders and think that's pretty cool, but the odds of them making it are akin to the odds of getting into professional sports or becoming a celebrity in the real world. Slim and hard, but there are those who make it.**

 **Aster's back! I told you he'd be back! Leo does get a bit sarcastic near the end here, but it's mostly because when he talks to himself, he is very sarcastic and bitter when he's alone. Leo is at his most comfortable when he's alone, or if he's, say, in the field with Pokémon, because _humans just aren't the same!_ It was never intended to be heard by Aster, but Aster has excellent hearing despite being a middle child and _latched_ onto it. **

**The picture comes back to haunt Leo again. Why _hasn't_ he turned it into the police? It was more of a "holy heck I just got a new job and I wanna go" and he forgot about it than deciding to hunt down the culprit themself. Also, Leo sucks at lying most of the time, but because he also sucks at talking most of the time, his lies are taken more-often-as-truths because the nervousness sounds the same as his normal voice. **

**I'm thinking of inserting Pokémon-based puns for social media and online resources. Like, if there's a website known as _Twitter_ , there is 100% a website in the Pokémon world that is similar but has a Poké-pun in it. I do not apologize in advance for this. Everyone must suffer with my puns, muahahaha.**

 **Next time; Leo and Aster battle.**

* * *

 **Review response time!**

 ** _Wings Made of Procrastination:_ Thank you so much! My claim that he's a semi-self insert is more based on the fact that he originally started out as one, but his personality and character has evolved on his own. Or maybe I've grown past the current stage that Leo is in? Those claims are a bit more of a disclaimer than him being an actual _self-insert_ anymore. (Though, his appearance (short, brown hair, blue eyes, yellow hoodie) is still mostly based on me, hahaha.)**


	6. Park

_**\- 6 -**_

 _ **"Park"**_

* * *

The place we chose to dump our stuff for a quick little Pokémon battle was so close to the end of the forest. It was in sight, if I could last just a bit longer, I could find a way to maybe lose Aster in the city? Or, at least, the next morning, leave early without him. I just had to last a bit longer.

I released Cal from his Pokeball. He recognized Aster, glanced at me, then at him, and then at me again, as in, _Him_ again _?_

"I know, Cal." I mumbled softly to him. "You good for a battle?" He gave me a reassuring chuckle. That's good, I suppose. Cal wasn't that big of a battler, either, but every now and then if we found ourselves in such a predicament he'd do it with an attitude of _I guess so._ Which, in hindsight, summed up Cal quite well.

Aster was already ready for the battle. "Alright, Di…" I overheard him talking to the Bulbasaur. "You ready for another battle?"

Di nodded, looking as determined as ever. She was a little sweetie, ouch my heart. If I ever had the option to choose a Kanto starter, I'd always said I'd go for a Bulbasaur. But then Cal came into my life and I'd never want that to change, obviously…

…Anyway.

"Wow, Leo." Aster said, looking between me and Cal. "Your Gastly sure looks strong."

Is he? He wasn't very high-leveled. But sure, Aster. Sure, he is. But let's just go along with it, for Aster's sake. Pretend I'm a strong trainer. Right?

"Thanks." I mumbled out, before clearing my throat awkwardly like an awkward person. "So, um, are we going to… uh…" I motioned to the space we were standing in. Di and Cal were both low leveled, sure, but the clearing might not be completely big enough? Aster didn't seem to get the message as he took steps back and put his hands on his hips, totally determined.

"Alright, let's do this!"

And battle…start! Okay, so this battle wasn't one of my best. It was not the mess that happened with Citrine, I tell you, but it was a plain mess. Like, ouch.

So, when we finally started, Aster decided to use vine whip as a first move. Which was much smarter than Citrine attempting to scratch the whole time and it just phasing through Cal. I called out a hesitant lick.

Di stepped back a bit, shuddering with the effects of a paralysis. _Nice_ , I thought to myself, but Aster came prepared. Despite being a bit oblivious to all the "please leave me alone" cues I've been trying to get him, Aster used his next turn to deal out a paralyz heal, making my whole plan crumble in on itself.

"Vine whip, again!" Aster called out after Cal attempted to lick Di again, and missed as Di jumped out of the way. The Bulbasaur didn't hesitate as she whipped out vines from underneath her bulb and sent them flying to Cal. The attack hurt. A lot. I didn't want Cal to collapse after another attack.

I gulped. Welp.

"I- I- give up." I said, taking a cautious step back. I held my hands up in the air, a sign for defeat. I was used to giving up. I tensed, waiting for how Aster would react.

"…Okay!" Aster said. "Di, come back, you did great!" Di nodded, walking back to her trainer. Cal floated towards me, collapsing into a tired amorphous orb in my arms. I dug out a potion, but what had happened was just…

…Okay. _Okay?_ Whenever I got in battles and gave up half-way, the people would keep going. And going. And going. Maybe Aster was right, maybe I _did_ need new people in my life who didn't treat me like garbage.

"You and your Pokémon were great, too, Leo." Aster patted me on the back. A bit too hard, as my fingers ended up slipping on the potion and it fell to the forest floor. Luckily it was empty, and Cal was looking much better. _Much_ better. "…You _could_ be a bit more confident— "Aster gave me a sly grin.

"N-No thanks." I responded, returning Cal to his Pokeball. "I- I don't battle unless I, you know, have to?"

Aster nodded, understanding. Gee, what did I do to get stuck with someone like this? …What, you mean showing basic human decency to people is _common_? Never heard of it, hahaha. Anyway. He picked up the bag he'd discarded and gave me a bigger grin. How big could he smile? I didn't know. "So, where are we off to next?"

"W-We?" I didn't expect him to want to hang out with a loser like me. I was warming up to the company, but even then, I was probably really annoying or weird to Aster, so I didn't expect it to last.

Aster nodded, raising his eyebrow a bit in a bit of a confused _"Um, Yeah, Duh"_ look at me. "Well, as an old videogame once told me, 'It's dangerous to go alone'." I'm pretty sure I knew what he was referencing, but I wasn't going to call him out on being a nerd. "And it looks like it's going to get dark soon. Don't want to be walking around in the forest at night, right?"

 _Was kinda the plan in the first place,_ I snidely thought to myself. The whole plan was to get through the forest before night fell so I would be able to avoid social confrontation (such as what was currently happening). Aster was… pretty nice, I guess, but I still didn't know how to feel and felt conflicted. Like, it was nice that he wanted to stay with me, but I'm going to get on his last nerves because I'm _Leo_ and that's what Leo does. "O-Okay. Yeah. Sure." I pretended to be perfectly fine with it.

I was not perfectly fine with it.

But I didn't have much of a choice.

* * *

The sun had already set, and we were still in the forest. Despite me wanting to trek on, Aster refused. I'm not sure what about it made him not want to keep going. I'm pretty sure that the end of the forest was just under a few minutes away, but Aster set his stuff down and plopped down in a small clearing off the path. People have clearly camped out in this same spot multiple times before—remains of a campfire, a few wrappers and other things littered the ground.

Oh, I _knew_ I forgot something. Food. Oops. Oh well, we'll be in Pewter early tomorrow and I can stop by a food place there to eat.

I awkwardly sat by the fire Aster had made.

"T-The exit is just— "

" _Nope!"_

"…But— "

"Don't wanna hear it!" Aster poked at the fire with a stick. A few embers shot into the air. "One night in the woods isn't going to kill you, you know."

I know that. But we're so close. Why are we stopping now? I held my tongue back, I wasn't into much conflict, and this was already too much already. Cal had released himself from the Pokeball as night fell, and was enjoying the moonlight shining on us. Di was curled up by Aster's sleeping bag, sound asleep.

It was… a warm feeling, to say the very least. To be by a campfire in the middle of nowhere, Pokémon surrounding us, the sounds of nature around us like a natural amphitheater. And to be with someone… who actually was nice to me? It seems like I'm over-exaggerating, but I literally don't have any friends. Most people in my life who aren't my coworkers and required to be nice to me (and me to them, of course, it's mutual) were rather cruel. So having some human decency was definitely a bit of a shocker for me. But it felt… good. For now.

"So, what're you gonna do when we get to Pewter?" Aster asked, looking up at me from the fire. It illuminated his face in such a way… it would've been a perfect picture. I instinctively reached for my camera. It had a night mode, maybe I could get a few shots in of Pokémon at night?

Oh, yeah, he asked me a question. I shrugged. "Find s-some Pokémon, mostly. Urban Pokémon—urban Pokémon in the city? Yeah." I cleared my throat. "Um, y-you? What are you doing?"

Why can't I hold a _normal_ conversation?

Aster nodded. "Well, I'm going to try and challenge the gym. Di and I've agreed that if we couldn't find a Pokémon to battle with when we got out of the forest, then we're going to have to run it SOLO."

Oh. I'd heard that the gym leader usually used two-Pokémon in his matches. Usually that's the least that a gym leader could go. Something about being equal to the trainer, or whatever. If a Pokémon trainer came in with just one Pokémon, well, they fell out of the rules, apparently. I think.

Di was strong and had a type advantage. I think that Aster and Di could do it. "Y-You'll do great."

"Aw, thanks, man." Aster feigned embarrassment, waving his hand dismissively at me. I think it was in a playful manner. I hope. "You should totally come watch it, though! Get some cool pictures for your, um… job? Thing? With the Professor."

I mean, I don't think I could get a lot of dynamic shots from sitting in the bleachers at a gym. But… sure. It's not like I have a lot to do, and urban Pokémon are easy to come by. I nodded. "S-Sure."

Aster grinned. "Tomorrow, we go for Pewter!" He stood up dramatically, holding the fire poker as a faux-sword. He looked like an idiot. "Oh, come on, I was expecting a _bit_ of a laugh…"

I sighed. But I was smiling. I hated it, but I was smiling. Aster sat back down and began explaining a bit of why he was challenging the gyms. He wanted to become a gym leader like he said earlier. There's a whole process through going through it, apparently. You have to be able to defeat the champion—not accept the title necessarily, but prove you can defeat the champion. Then there's a lot of paperwork. Something about interning with different gym leaders until someone retires or is forced to step down. And then it's another year and a half before you can actually become the gym leader.

"W-Wow."

"Yeah, I know. It's a lot of work." Aster sighed. "Di and I've only _seen_ the tip of the iceberg. But tomorrow that all changes, I tell ya, Leo. Tomorrow, when I defeat Brock, it'll be one step closer to my goal!"

* * *

 **A/N: Look at Aster, what a gentleman. One of the things I've always associated with Viridian City (And Pallet Town a bit, too, but that's a bit of a stretch) is that it's...Not a good city. After all, it's where Giovanni stood as gym leader until it was revealed in a not-so-epic plot twist that _hey I'm the leader of Team Rocket, whoopty-do!_ There's also this feeling I get from the city that's like...You know, a bit uppity, too. The people in the city aren't proud that Giovanni came from there, and they try to make up for it by pushing their kids to be the best that they can be, and, well...**

 **... it fails sometimes. These kids are pushed to be the best and also learn to push people down in return. Leo never had a good home life (obviously) and he's a pretty runty, timid guy, so he was the outcast in more ways than one. Whenever he battled as a kid at school, he would give up because he didn't want Pokémon to be hurt more, but because the school system was a bit haywire after Team Rocket left (a few higher-ups were a part of it, I imagine, along with the city's council, too), the school turned a blind eye to bullying incidents, especially when they involved someone who was different. Whoever Leo was put up against had _no_ _mercy,_ in an unfortunate chain of events. **

**Just self-projecting a bit, as usual.**

 **Aster is an angel to Leo after he's been pretty beaten down by his peers, so it's pretty weird for him.**

 **Also, they're both absolute _s,_ fyi. Aster ain't slick with that Legend of Zelda reference, and neither am I. Though do keep in mind that I've only played Breath of the Wild and don't understand a lot of the timeline. What matters is having fun, not being the best, sometimes. Carry that with you.**

 **Next time; Leo and Aster make it to Pewter. Aster signs up for a gym challenge, and Leo works on his photography.**


	7. Provincial

_**\- 7 -**_

 _ **"Provincial"**_

* * *

Finally arriving at the Pokémon Center the next day, I felt like my legs wanted to kill me. My stomach was gurgling a bit—from lack of food or anxiety, I could never tell which anymore. My legs were quaking. The cool air blasted on us from the air conditioning, and I breathed in the fake air with a sigh of relief. Finally, hopefully, Aster would leave me alone—

"Hey, Leo!" Aster joined me in walking into the Pokémon Center. "I was thinking', while you head off and do your pictures, I can go and sign up for a spot to fight Brock!"

 _Mmhmm._ I would've ditched him without a second's hesitation, had I not said I'd watch his first gym battle. I nodded in response. Being around Aster was definitely… I don't want to use the word tiring, because there was a part of me that was a bit rejuvenated by some of the first positive socialization I've had in what felt like forever. But there was also the introverted, shy part of myself that just got… tired. My voice was tired. I didn't want to talk much. Probably from Aster, but it's… it's weird, everything is so confusing, is this what knowing positive people is like?

Whatever. Moving on.

Aster looked at me one last time. "Alright, I guess this is farewell for a bit. I'll send you a message when I—" He stopped in his tracks. "Wait, I don't have your phone number, huh?"

I shrugged. I pulled out my phone and handed it to him. He wrote down his number in it, and made sure mine was in his. I got a glimpse of his phone—it was much better than my crappy old one, and he put a camera emoji next to my name. Glancing at mine, he'd put stars—asterisks, because my phone doesn't have emojis—next to his.

"Alright. I'll text you what time I've got. And then we can meet up back here for a bit. Does that sound good?"

I nodded. Sure.

Aster grinned. He waved goodbye, leaving the Pokémon Center as soon as he'd entered it. I, however, had different plans. After sending Cal back with one of the working nurses for a quick check-up, I dug through the "tourist pit".

If you don't know what I mean when I refer to the "tourist pit", then I'll explain it to you. It's the shelf full of information and maps that's usually by the front door of the Pokémon Center. It was the best place to get pamphlets and brochures about your current location if you weren't into talking with other people. I couldn't count the endless times I'd taken Cal in to the one in Viridian for check-ups and found myself dug deep into the information given by the tourist pit.

That's why it's a pit. Once you fall in, it's hard to get out.

I dug out a few brochures that looked rather interesting, one of the city with certain places where wild Pokémon were said to roam freely, one about the city's history, and the third just talking about the museum. _Man, if Aster gets a decent shot at the Gym today, maybe we can stop—_ I halted in my thoughts. 'We' was pushing it. He probably didn't want to go to a nerdy, old museum about rocks and stuff. My natural curiosity was getting the best of me.

"Leo?" The nurse who took Cal back was calling my name. I grabbed the brochures and walked over, giving her a small smile. "Your Gastly is in perfect condition." She held out the tray that had Cal's Pokeball. "We hope to see you again."

I mumbled out a, "Thank you. You, too—"and caught my voice. Awkward. The nurse only blinked at me and smiled, before her attention was pulled away by another trainer, who had an injured Rattata. Poisoned, probably, if they just came from the forest.

* * *

I released Cal from his Pokeball and pulled out the map with the Pokémon hotspots. It wasn't always a good idea to catch an urban Pokémon, they're often more wild than wild Pokémon. But the map did show some spots where some urban Rattata, Meowth, and a few others could be hiding. And thus, our job for the day had begun.

 _Click._ A picture of an Abra, lazing about in the park. It was mid-day, and most people were picnicking or having fun battling or just hanging out in the park. No text yet from Aster, but the moment I spotted the Abra, I had to go into "Serious Mode".

I'm sure I looked a little…silly to some passersby. I was a prepubescent-looking boy, with half of his body shoved inside of a bush. An Abra snoozed on the other side, away from the prying eyes of humans. I had to be quiet in order to get this shot.

And it worked. I wiggled myself out of the bush and turned my camera to the photo-viewing one. Bravo! Getting images of wild Pokémon like Abra, that are quick to flee, is really tricky, especially for the famous professionals. You must remain quiet and still, if anyone thing disturbs a wild Abra, the teleport ability is nothing to mess with.

A sudden flashback from the burglar came back. I shook my head to clear the thoughts, as Cal floated over to check on the photo I'd taken. He'd accustomed himself to hiding in the shadows of the trees around us, as his amorphous body would've almost completely disappeared in the afternoon sunlight.

"What do you think, Cal?" I held the camera up for him to see better. "Portfolio-worthy?"

He chuckled. It was a _Yes_ from Callalied. I nodded, making a note of that picture. I checked my phone to see if Aster had texted me yet, and there still wasn't any messages. I shrugged, standing up and wiping off my pants. _Better get going to the other places,_ I thought to myself, grabbing the map from my pocket to see where to go next.

"Hey, you!" A sudden voice ripped me out of my thoughts. I turned, and found a trainer, opposing me, in a slightly highlighter-like yellow t-shirt and shorts. He couldn't have been more than eleven, twelve at most. "My name's Bobby! Are you a trainer?"

Um. I shrugged. "I mean, I- I guess?"

"Awesome!" The kid crossed his arms. "Battle me! Please!"

I looked at Cal, who looked right back at me. It was a bit of an occupational hazard, to be challenged by trainers, huh? Cal could look less interested in it, but… I hated it but I needed money, too. "Um, okay- Yeah, sure, okay." One battle wouldn't hurt.

"Awesome!" He said again. He threw his Pokeball into the air and out came a Mankey. "Manx's my partner in this! I hope you're ready for our smashing duo!"

A Mankey. If I remembered, they were fighting-types. Cal had lick, and there was no doubt in it that the Mankey knew only normal-and-fighting type moves. Well, what's the worst that could happen, right?

Never think that. Ever. In your life. Because the moment your brain thinks those things, the moment it goes through your head, the _worst_ happens. I motioned for Cal to float in front of me to face off in the battle, motioning for the kid to start.

"Ladies first!" The kid offered.

Okay. Not cool. I glared, slightly offended. "I'm not—not a girl!"

"Oh. Sorry, dude." Bobby shrugged. "Alright, Manx, use Foresight!"

The Mankey nodded, and did its best to glare at Cal. I wracked my brain for what Foresight did—Mankey doesn't usually learn it from leveling up, it must've been an egg move, or something to the caliber—and I remembered what it did. It allowed normal-and Fighting-type attacks to hit Ghost-types.

It also allowed for the opposite, in a battlefield. Even if we were just standing a couple of meters apart. There was something about it I remembered Professor Oak mumbling about in one of his famous mumbling-tangents. Something about how battlefields work with Pokémon, and what it has to do with how Pokémon fight and _why_ Pokémon fight, stuff like that. It's like how Terrain moves work in Kalos, I think.

Anyway, that left me _and_ the kid with more options. "O-Okay, Cal…use…" I hesitated. I'm not good at battling, what was the best move? I looked at Cal, who was patiently waiting for my command. Ugh, battles were always so awkward. "H-Hypnosis?"

Cal nodded (it's so funny to see a Gastly nod, they just bob their whole bodies) and looked at the Mankey, chuckling to himself. The Mankey's eyes slowly began to droop, before eventually falling into a slumber. Man, why didn't I think of doing this with Citrine?

Oh, yeah, I was put on the spot too much with that. And some of that battle, at least, will probably be played on TV.

Oh no. _Bad thoughts, bad thoughts,_ I told myself. _You're battling, go away, bad thoughts._

"M-Manx! Wake up!" Bobby called to his Pokémon. "Try and use Low Kick!"

Manx just snored. Loudly.

"C-Cal, lick!" Cal swept in for a big ol' lick. Manx's fur got all messed up with it as well. Gross. "E-Ew." Out of all the Pokémon moves in the world, _lick_ had to be the most disgusting.

"Manx—try fury swipes!" Bobby called out again. Manx snored, loudly, again, and I think he started to drool.

"Cal, l-lick!" The final lick seemed to wake up Manx. Before Cal could back away and rethink his life (death? He is a ghost-type) decisions, the fighting-type grasped him by the tongue and threw him into the ground. Oh, dear, this wasn't good.

My heart skipped a beat seeing my only companion through most of my life tossed to the side like some kind of doll.

"Manx, this is victory number thirteen, coming up!" Bobby chuckled, crossing his arms. Man, who I thought to be just a cute little kid wanting a battle, was something much more. Ouch.

There was a bit of me that thought, _no! You can't lose, Leo. Shove it to the man!_ The good, cool confident Leo that I was once upon a time before life became hell. There was still a shred of that in me, deep down, but I can't just call upon it like some cool superpower in times of great distress. If I could I'd be challenging Brock alongside Aster.

The majority of me was, _accept defeat. Pay the kid. Make him leave you alone. Don't hurt Cal any more than you have to._

… for once, I listened to Confident Leo. If you could count what I did next as "confident", "cool", "suave", or as the young'un's say today, "badass".

"C-Cal." I said as the ghost-type floated back to me, waiting for me to ponder my next choice. "One- one more time. F-Fast. L-Lick." He was confused with my command, obviously used to me backing down. Once Bobby became a bit of an asshole, I think I decided _nope, this kid doesn't need to act like_ this _anymore,_ or some sort of righteous crap like that.

Cal swept in and gave Manx a good lick again. The move wasn't very effective, and he flew out of the way from the Mankey's fury swipes. It was very brief, but for a moment there, the fur on the fighting-type stood on its end and I knew I was lucky enough to get a paralysis. Luckily for me, Bobby didn't realize as he called out, "Alright, Manx, Low Sweep!"

Manx's leg began to glow as he catapulted himself into the air. He swung at Cal, hitting the ghost-type directly in the amorphous of the body. Unfortunately, it hurt a lot, and when he landed, the fighting-type cringed, his whole body freezing up on itself. Paralysis. "M-Manx?"

 _Ahuhuhu. All according to plan._ I thought to myself, like the nerd I was. I might've looked terrified on the outside, and don't worry, I was, too, on the inside, but there was that bit of confidence flowing through me. Maybe once I could do something good. I prepared myself to sound like an epic enemy, taking down the hero of the story. _Cal, finish him with a final Lick!_

That was my expectations, at least. My reality?

"L-Lick. Um, please. Cal."

 _Arceus, Leo, you had one job._

It won me the victory, and the money to buy a meal from a local diner for lunch, probably. Yum. The boy grumbled to himself as he returned Manx to his Pokeball, saying something like _I'll get you back one day,_ or _I'll bet your hack one day_ , or along those lines. I don't know. I was studying the money I had that'd buy me lunch.

 _Ding!_ Oh, would you look at that, a frantic text from Aster, saying his gym match was about to start. I sighed, looking at my money before pocketing it and running off to where the maps said that the Pewter Gym was.

* * *

"Ah! Leo!" Aster waved at me from the door of the gym. He had his large, goofy smile on, like usual. "It's about to start soon—are you okay?"

I was fine. I totally wasn't out of breath from running halfway across Pewter, only to realize I'd accidentally had the map in my hands upside down. It explained why the city began to delve into a more "rural" kind of backdrop, at least. And I totally wasn't wishing I could curl into a ball and cry because, man, I'm not built for long, lengthy runs like this. I could do a short sprint, sure, if my life depended on it.

But never. Ever. Again.

"I'm fine." I mumbled under my breath. I'm sure it sounded more like an " _'M fne."_ more than anything, no matter. Aster grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the Gym.

I'd never been inside a Pokémon Gym before, ever.

Alright, I lied. In primary school and the Viridian Gym was reopened by the youngest gym leader ever, Blue, at like twelve or thirteen years old or something, we were allowed to come in as a special class field trip. The gym wasn't much of anything. What made it special is that we'd gotten a first glance at what the once-champion, now gym-leader kid could do.

Which stunned a lot of people, including me. I think some of my old classmates have their autographs from him, still.

Pewter was…different, though. There was a small reception area at the beginning, which showed the names for the different challengers. Aster's name was second on the list. After that, there was a door, which assumingly led to the other part of the gym. How nice and organized.

"Ah!" One of the ladies at the reception desk glanced at the two of us coming into the gym. "Is this the one you were talking about?"

"Yup!" Aster nodded. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I flinched, but didn't shy away from the touch, because what if that would make me look awkward? What if that would make me look cold? I'm not a cold, cruel person. Not at all. "It's okay if he just… follows me in, right? Leo isn't taking the challenge."

The lady nodded. "Of course. He has to wear this, though." She dug into a drawer in a desk and grabbed a lanyard. There was a blue card on the end, and it was labeled VISITOR. "Just so the gym trainers don't think you're taking on the challenge, too."

"T-Thank you…" I said in response, taking the lanyard carefully. The shade of blue reminded me of the bit of ocean you could spot from the inlet in Pallet. It was…nice, relaxing, and reminded me of the home away from home at the lab. I put it on over my hoodie, which greatly contrasted next to the faded yellow.

There's no way anyone would mistakenly challenge me. And anyway, Cal was only healed by the fact I had a potion on me at the time. The last one, I might add, and I made a mental note to remember to go buy some more, which thankfully I remembered, but that's in the future.

Aster led me to a small seating area, and began to talk me through the whole thing. "So, this Gym challenge thing is more organized than in the past! You come to the gym, get a time slot for your "challenge", and wait until that time comes." Aster explained, probably the very same stuff that was told to him before I got there. He pointed at the open door. "The gym is _thataway._ This is just the waiting room."

"Oh. Cool." I said.

Moment of silence. I glanced at the person who was in front of Aster, still taking on their challenge. In big, letters, read not what I thought it was when I first glanced at it (CHRISTINE), but, in fact, _CITRINE._

Oh no. Not again.

* * *

 **A/N:** _ **…Guess who's back, back again...** **Shady's back, tell a friend...**_

 **The whole battle against the Mankey is total BS, I know, I just didn't want to leave the chapter too short. I needed to add _some_ action to it! Foresight is a move that allows normal-and-fighting-type moves to hit, but I may have twisted it a bit to make it apply to both of them. That's just how it be in this world, yo~ **

**I imagine that, unlike in the games where you can just waltz on in and challenge the gym leader, it works similar to the anime (and manga, but I haven't read the manga in a while) where you have to _actually_ say "I'm challenging you!". Reason one is that gym leaders, in stories at least, are actual _characters_ and should live lives outside of working as a gym leader. The only way I can think of it being convenient and easily regulated by both the gym and by the League association is through a designated wait list or some sort of waiting room that you check into. If you get there too late, well, you snooze, you lose, but at least there's always tomorrow to try again! Leo is not a challenger, but because he's with Aster, he's allowed to sit closer to the field, so he gets a fancy VISITOR's pass that they probably only give to school kids on field trips or friends accompanying challenging trainers. They're not allowed to help in the battle or use their own Pokémon, which is pretty much unsaid and obvious. **

**And yes, Citrine is _back._ Good luck out there, Leo, you're gonna need it.**

 **Next time; Aster challenges the gym leader Brock.**


	8. Pewter

_**\- 8 -**_

 _ **"Pewter"**_

* * *

I blinked, trying to make sure I was, in fact, reading the screen right. Nope, it read _CITRINE._ How many people are there in this region named Citrine? It was a popular baby name when I was born, but I got stuck with Leo. I tried to rationalize that it was a different person and not the Citrine I knew but knowing my luck, it was.

Aster seemed to be in cue with my negative emotions. "Hey, what's got you looking so down all of a sudden?" How was he so _good_ at that?

I shrugged. "Um. Nothing. It's—nothing."

"Yeah, does nothing even exist?" Aster nudged my shoulder. "C'mon."

"Um." I took a deep breath. Here goes. "Okay, s-so I might have a c-cousin named Citrine. I _do_ , I mean, I do have a cousin named Citrine. And she's…" I glanced at the door. I lowered my voice. "…not the _nicest_ p-person. And, um, also the star of a—a reality TV show being filmed right now."

Aster blinked. "Citrine Anders?"

"Y-Yeah."

"That's your cousin?!"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Hmm." Aster squinted at me, looking closely. "I believe you, but I don't really see it."

"No one—no one really sees it." I shrugged. "She, um, might also have a vendetta against me for beating her in her f-first Pokémon battle on the show?"

"Really, Leo?" Aster let out a small giggle. "Oh, Arceus, that's great. Great way to start off a show."

Yeah, I know. It was going to be pretty great, thinking back on it, and then I realized, oh no, I'm probably going to be on TV at some point. And if this is the same Citrine that's going through the gym challenge in Pewter, then well, buddy, it's gonna be a bad time.

Suddenly, shuffling behind the door. There were a few voices. Unsurprisingly, at least to me, out popped a Citrine, _the_ Citrine, with the Director trailing not far behind. The Director was deep in a conversation with another man, who I only could assume was the friendly gym leader, Brock himself.

Citrine looked… a bit more confident and arrogant than usual. Oh, and she wore a pinned-on badge from the very gym we sat in on her scarf. Probably had something to do with it.

"Again, apologies for taking up a good portion of your day. The camera equipment should be gone in time for the next challenger."

Brock scratched the back of his head. I suddenly realized why a lot of people, gender-nonspecific, fawned over him. The man never wore a shirt. Whatever happened to plain decency here? I'm complaining, yes. Yes I am. This is my story and I can complain about what's I want to complain about.

"It's not that big of an issue." Brock said. "You're the second-to-last challenger I had today. And it was a great battle, Citrine."

Citrine looked back at him and just _hmmphed._ "Thanks." Is all she said, before turning on my heel. She took a quick glance around the room. I looked away. Maybe avoiding the eyes of her would make me appear invisible? I wish I could be like Cal and fade in bright lights.

Nope. Luck is never on my side.

"I'd recognize that yellow hoodie anywhere." Citrine said condescendingly. "Leo."

"Oh." Okay, I had to face her. I had to look her in the eye despite how much I was scared of it. "Oh, h-hi, Citrine."

She walked over to me. High heels- who wears high heels to a _Gym? -_ clicked on the floor. It made the thing much more intimidating. "I didn't expect… you to come to a place like this."

Yup. Here we go. The insults are just going to come flying at me. What am I, a poor defenseless photographer, supposed to do? Point a flash at her face? Well, it worked pretty well with the burglar, apparently. But I didn't want to waste data on her, either.

"Actually." Aster spoke up. "He's with me!" He was standing up, brimming with a different kind of confidence than Citrine. His was… bright, positive, influential. Citrine's was a bit darker, and more of a condescending air that floated around her, made of knives that would find your weakness and stab you repeatedly in it until you gave up. A bit specific, I know. "I'm Aster, by the way. What's your name?"

He was acting. But it diverted attention from me. Citrine grimaced, before slowly taking his hand and shaking it. Slowly. Very slowly. "Citrine. Citrine Anders. Ever heard of me?" Her hand was freed, she wiped it on the side of her shirt.

Aster crossed his arms. He thought for a moment. "Your name sounds familiar…" He was definitely acting. He should've been the star of the reality TV show. But… it was irritating Citrine. So much. I was in love with it. I kept my mouth shut, and just watched the act go down before me.

"I guess some Johtoean celebrities don't travel across the mountains?" She asked. "I'm mostly known for modeling in Johto. I'm ranked in the top-twenty in the region."

"Really? That's cool!" How Aster's blatant sarcasm just floated over Citrine's head was… definitely astounding.

"Yes. I'm currently shooting for a reality show you'll see in the future." She waved a hand, before looking back at me. "I guess I'll see you sometime in the future, Leo." That's her goodbye. She sauntered out of the gym without a word. The Director soon followed, stopping for a brief moment to wave at me. But he quickly pulled out his phone again, other busy things to do.

I let out a deep sigh, turning to Aster. Before I could tell him how amazing that was, I was stopped. By the gym leader, of course. I heard Aster mumble something, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Are you here for the challenge?" Brock asked.

Aster nodded. "Yep! I hope you're ready."

The gym leader chuckled. "I hope _you're_ prepared as well. My two gym trainers are strong."

"As long as I have my Pokémon by my side…" Aster looked at DI's Pokeball. His _only_ Pokémon. "…I think we can do anything."

"That's the spirit." Brock said. "I'll see you two in the back, I assume?"

We both nodded, almost perfectly in sync. He walked through the door, and Aster and I soon followed, ready to take on the Pewter City Gym Challenge.

Okay, yeah, I know, I technically wasn't the official challenger. The vibrant blue lanyard around my neck definitely stood out. But hey, I was with Aster, I didn't have much of a choice.

The inside of the Pewter Gym definitely wasn't what I expected. It was large inside, with a small rock maze sat in the middle. A stage stood in the back with large screens above it, where we could clearly see Brock, but he pretended to not see us as we entered. There were seats up on a balcony to the side, along with two benches on either side of the stage. I knew exactly where I was going to sit, unfortunately. The gym was cool, as we felt a blast of cold air hit us the moment we stepped in, and if it wasn't for my handy-dandy yellow sweatshirt, I would've been a Leo-sicle.

The first gym trainer we ran into immediately spotted my lanyard, and soon, the camera slung around my neck. "Seriously? What's with the cameras today?" I flinched at his tone of voice. Ouch.

"Leo's not going to use it." Aster looked at me, nodding his head. Okay yeah, I wasn't planning on using it anyway. It felt more comfortable around my neck, that's all. "And anyway, I'm the challenger. Aren't you supposed to focus on me?" Arceus, that sounded a bit more stuck-up in the story than it did in reality. But he said it in a nice way, trust me.

The gym trainer nodded, and the first battle was on. It was a pretty easy battle for Aster and Di, after all, with the type advantage on their side. The first Pokémon was taken out with just a quick vine whip. The next Pokémon was down in two hits. Wow, I'm so great at describing this gym trainer, aren't I?

I'm sorry, I thought you'd like to get to the actual _action_ right now. You know, Aster's challenge against the gym leader Brock? And anyway, I'm a side character in Aster's grand journey through Kanto right now.

Though, it was quite funny how the gym trainer's face morphed from, "This kid has _one_ Pokémon? There's no way he could beat me!" to "Oh shit he beat me." Di was a _powerhouse_ in the battle, even though she knew Vine-Whip as her only grass-type move. I couldn't help but feel proud of that; I'd seen this Bulbasaur raised from an egg, she was like… a cousin. A weird, green, small cousin. That you watched grow up, from a far. Um. Anyway.

The gym trainer returned their Geodude and their Sandshrew with a shocked face. They let out a low, nervous laugh. "Aha… wow. Oddly enough, it was a better battle than the one before?"

Aster cocked his head. "How so?"

"The trainer…" The gym trainer shrugged. "…She had a Charmander, sure, but it knew Brick Break? And her Butterfree knew Energy Ball. I didn't know you could get those TMs anywhere near here."

Ah, knowing Citrine, she'd probably got them from the Director, or somehow ordered them off the internet with one-day shipping. She had the money, why wouldn't she? Though it seemed pretty…unfair, to the gym at least, that she had the money to order all of them. But that was the kind of person Citrine was. I hope she was treating her Pokémon well, at least.

"Huh." Aster nodded. "It was a good battle, too, dude." They shook hands, a sign of peace between them, and we moved along. As we walked, Aster brought out a Potion to use on Di, who was still a bit injured from the fight against two Pokémon. She had a lot to go against, too, if you remember well- it's a two-versus-one, the "one" being Aster and Di. Luckily they had a type advantage, but the one Pokémon could get weakened a lot through just one battle, and there's no doubt that Brock had fought many-a Bulbasaur in his lifetime and knew how to deal with them, strategies and all.

I believed in Aster and Di.

* * *

Brock was waiting for us on the main stage. There were no fancy bleachers, like Blue's gym, that I'd been to before, just benches on the side. They matched the rustic theme of the gym, at least. The whole gym was really… rocky, for the lack of a better term. Rocks everywhere. It was a good place to train, and definitely fit the typing of the gym, at least.

"Hm. Made it past my gym trainer already?" Brock asked, crossing his arms. I ducked away, quickly grabbing a seat at the bench and hoping that any possible debris from the battle wouldn't hit me where I was. It was a pretty decent seat as well, and I could see the entire battlefield from my seat. "Are you ready to take on my Gym?"

"Yeah!" Aster crossed his arms. "Are you ready for my challenge?" Ah, what an anime hero. How courageous and determined. I have to admit, there was something about the glint in Aster's eyes that was… very eager, very determined, very _ready_ to do this.

Brock chucked. "You've got one Pokémon against my two. The odds of winning are very slim."

"I know."

"You still think you can do this?"

"I said it before- as long as my Pokémon are by my side…" Aster crossed his arms. "We can do anything!"

"So be it, then." Brock pulled out a Pokeball. Behind him, a screen screeched and popped out of the wall. There was Aster's trainer card photo, and a photo of Brock. Next to Brock and his name, two Pokéballs. Next to Aster and _his_ name, there was only one Pokeball. How…fascinating. I was half-tempted to pick up my camera, but I was distracted by the battle beginning.

"Di, you can do this!" Aster motioned for Di, who was already out of her Pokeball, to move onto the battlefield. She did so with a jump and a determined look.

"Geoff, come out!" The gym leader released his first Pokémon, a Geodude. We've all seen Geodude before, especially in those warning ads you see on television, like the ones about floods and stuff. Professor Oak is here to say; " _Don't randomly break rocks! It could be a Geodude, and you could get hurt!"_

How much did they pay the Professor to do that? I wonder.

The first move was Aster's. He went smart with this, at least. "Alright, Di, sleep powder!"

"Geoff, watch out!" The Geodude didn't even hesitate. He curled his arms close to his face and rolled away from the powder secreted from Di's bulb. The powder fell to the floor and into the dirt. "Now, tackle!"

"Sleep powder, again, Di!" Honestly? I had no idea what Aster was doing. But I think he had a plan. Hopefully.

I wouldn't be that good of a trainer, anxieties and dislike-of-battles aside. I would just spam the strongest attacking move I had, and hope for the best. I mean, if it works in videogames, it should work in real life, right?

Geoff the Geodude managed to dodge the sleep powder and hit Di directly. The Bulbasaur cried out at the contact, and slid back a few feet from the mere force of the Geodude. _Arceus_ _above,_ that was strong. Di shook it off to the best of her ability. This battle wasn't going too well. I watched Aster clench his fist. "Alright, Di, sleep powder again!"

Di nodded, aimed her bulb, and spat out the shiny blue powder. Getting hit with that stuff is not fun. While it can barely make a human sleep, depending on the strength of the human and the Pokémon (of course), it was difficult for a Pokémon to fight through it. It was easy to dodge and miss, and unfortunately, thrice is bad, and the Geodude ended up dodging it for third time. And I thought three was supposed to be a lucky number?

"Geoff, tackle!"

"Look out, Di!" Aster shouted. Di managed to duck and roll just in time away from the rock bellowing towards her. Geoff spun on his…um, butt? Do Geodudes have butts?

No not the time for _those kind_ of questions, Leo.

Geoff twirled around to aim for Di again. He began to roll into another tackle towards Di, and she ran out of the way again. He sat up in order to start again, but sniffed.

Okay, do Geodudes have noses, too? I've seen a total number of two Geodudes in my life, and I'd only been able to get pictures of the one at the lab from afar. He was a mean Pokémon that liked to head-butt anything that got near him that was not the Mankey at the lab. The Mankey at the lab would head-butt back, of course.

Geoff sniffed, before yawning and collapsing in sleep. I blinked, sitting on the edge of the bench. How had I managed to miss that completely? It took Brock a bit back, too, and his eyes widened. "Geoff-?"

"Now, Di!" Aster was panting. The thing about battles, is that there's a lot of movement in it, obviously. You have to follow your Pokémon if you want to be good at battling. The whole time as Geoff and Di were chasing each other, Aster and Brock were moving around, in sync with their Pokémon. Most battles tend to be like that. "Vine whip!" His voice cut through the air as Di sprouted vines from under her bulb and picked up Geoff, throwing him in the air before snapping, twice, at the rock-type.

Oh, super-effective! Geoff was down for the count! The board at the back knocked Geoff out, the Pokeball symbolizing him going black. "Geoff, you did good, my friend." Brock said, returning the Geodude to his Pokeball to rest. He stood up, putting his hands on his hips. He had a… smile on, an indescribable smile. I think it was one of those "what-the-heck-I-didn't-notice-how-smart-you-are" smiles. Too specific? "Impressive strategy you had there."

Aster nodded, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead. "I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get a sleep powder head-on." He explained. "So, I kept using it, getting it in the dirt in the field, hoping your Geodude would roll over it. And he did." Aster grinned.

Brock nodded. "Good job on beating Geoff." He pulled out his final Pokeball. "But can you take on…" He threw his final Pokeball into the air, releasing his last one. A large, rock-snake appeared. Onix, of course. You see them on TV and you don't understand the _size_ of them until you're standing under one like you're on the menu for dinner. "Oskar, I'm counting on you!"

Oskar. Oskar the Onix, Geoff the Geodude. Had to admit, Brock had quite a…strange way to name his Pokémon. Nonetheless, Di and Aster were faced with their second (or third, counting the gym trainer) challenge of the day. Oskar the Onix.

I still giggle at the name Oskar.

"Your move, Aster." I don't think Brock would take time to remember the names of the trainers that go through his Gym. There's got to be more than one per _day_ , and they each get a time-slot of at least an hour to do the gym challenge. There's a lot of hours in the day—especially when you're open from 6 am to 10 pm. So having someone like Brock recognize your name, put a name to a face, and call you out on it must've been pretty impressive.

In my opinion, a t least. I don't think Aster was thinking right. "Alright. Di, come here!" We watched as the small Bulbasaur trotted over to Aster. Since _limited_ healing items were allowed to be used on both sides—though it can be quite easy to forget, sometimes—Aster pulled out a potion. "Here you go." He sprayed it gently onto the grass-type's wounds, allowing them to stitch back together. She wasn't as fresh and energetic as she was at the beginning of the battle, or the challenge itself, but it gave her a bit of an extra boost to (hopefully) see this through.

Brock chuckled. "Most beginners don't even think to do that in their battles. But that's your turn, and here's mine—Oskar, rock tomb!"

Rock tomb—an attack I've only heard about in research papers. We can't exactly have a full-grown Oskar hanging around our lab, you know? It's a move that summons rocks from the battlefield to entomb the opposing Pokémon. And that's exactly what happened- the rocks around the battlefield, including one that was calmly laying near me, were raised into the air before surrounding Di on all sides, essentially squishing her.

"Di! Wriggle out!" Aster called. Luckily, before the attack was over, Di wiggled out in time and escaped a hefty amount of damage. "Alright, vine whip!" It appeared he wasn't going for the first strategy he used, as this was an entirely different Pokémon, and an entirely different size, to use that strategy against. I wonder if he _did_ have something in his head.

Di stretched out her vines and threw them at Oskar's face. They hit, the type advantage being good, but something else not being so good. Possibly the fact that Di was the only Pokémon and had barely been able to rest, perhaps? Who knows. She landed on the ground, a bit clumsily, and the Onix blinked. He'd gotten hit in the eyes, ouch.

"Oskar." Brock said, standing firm as ever. "Use bind!"

"Di, look out!" The large rock snake was strong and heavy in defense, but the size did not allow him much of an advantage of speed. And Bulbasaurs aren't much known for their speed, either, but Di was luckily able to dodge the bind. For now. I don't know how much more the grass-type could hold out. Potions gave Pokémon temporary strength, but they still needed actual time to rest. "Now, vine whip again!"

Di nodded, whipping directly at Oskar's midsection. It caused a bit more damage, luckily. But the Onix was still stronger in comparison.

"Tackle!"

Di got hit head-on by a tackle from a giant Pokémon. That wasn't going to do good. I flinched, hearing the sound of the collision and watching the small Bulbasaur fly across half the battlefield. I glanced at the screen—Bulbasaur was still in the fight, but barely, by the looks of it. I saw her try and stand up, but weakly.

"Di-Dianthus!" Aster called out. Dianthus? I'd assumed that Di was short for _something_ , it turns out, Di was Dianthus, probably just for ease of not having to say "Dianthus" a lot. What a pretty name. "Are you okay?"

The Bulbasaur turned back and nodded, slowly. She chirped at Aster, trying to make it seem okay. It really wasn't, though. One more hit and she'd be down for the count. And now Aster had a decision to make. He could pull her out and call the match off, or continue the battle at a high probability of losing.

What will happen? Well, you'll find out next time!

…Just kidding, I'll tell you. He nodded. "We can do this, Dianthus." He said, leaning down close to the ground to whisper. Brock stood stoically at the other side though he was probably curious to what the other two were saying.

…Wait. I looked at the way that Aster and Di were positioned. The small Bulbasaur, looking up to the eyes of her trainer. I couldn't help it, okay? It was my job, anyway, to get pictures for the Pokédex, which I was doing pretty well so far. I hoped. I pulled out my camera and aimed it right at the two. I snapped a quick picture, and just like that, the two were done with their bonding moment and Di was ready to fight again.

"You'll keep going, huh?" Brock asked. He chuckled a bit. "I hope you have a plan, I don't think your Bulbasaur is going to last much longer."

Aster nodded. "We do. Ready, Di?" He glanced at his Pokémon.

The grass-type nodded, full of the same gritty determination at the beginning of the fight.

"Alright, Di. Ready a vine whip!" She brought out her vines, ready to attack.

"Oskar, rock tomb!" The rocks began to float again, aiming for Di. They flew through the air towards her, but she didn't move.

"Now, Di!" The Bulbasaur nodded, and whipped out—at the rocks from the rock tomb. All but one of them were thrown back at Oskar, the final one missing its mark and flying a bit too close to Aster for comfort. If he'd gotten injured, at least that'd get him the badge definitely? The rocks from the rock tomb hit Oskar directly, and the Pokémon fell back, flinching from the impact. "Now, tackle!"

Di charged up a tackle, running head-first towards the Onix. She hit directly at the Onix's midsection, and he fell back even more.

"Oskar, tackle—" Oskar was too confused at what was happening to hear what Brock was saying, and he would've missed, anyway.

"Vine whip!" Di shot out her vines at the Onix, who was already slowly falling, and pulled him to the ground to finish him off.

The Pokeball on screen flickered off.

Aster…had won.

There was a beat, a hesitant beat, in which the Gym was silent. My ears were ringing, I'm pretty sure my mouth was wide, and everything was just…silent. Oskar had fallen, Di was barely standing, and it was all silent.

And then, a quiet, "We won?"

Aster was in shock, too. I'm sure he was convinced that there was going to be a high chance of failure. Definitely, right? "We won!"

Brock returned Oskar to his Pokeball, slowly beginning to clap. Aster and Di looked up, cautiously, but the gym leader was beaming. "I have to say, Aster. Not many people are able to beat me with just a single Pokémon." He reached into his pocket, digging around. There were a few _clinks_ hat I could hear, and then he pulled it out. A badge.

A Pokémon Gym badge.

"Here is the Boulder Badge, proof of your victory." He outstretched his hand to Aster. Aster accepted it, though I could tell he was shaking from the battle, and hey, from the first gym badge.

You could also see his giant grin from across the field. He looked at me, and waved me over immediately. "Hey, Leo! Come over here! Get a picture of _this_!"

Oh, great, fun. I nodded anyway, making sure my camera was on and ready for a photo. They both watched me walk over, and it felt like the longest walk of my life. It was strange when people just _watched_ you like that.

Aster gave me a determined pose, holding up his badge. I definitely could've used it for blackmail later on, but I wasn't thinking, and I just snapped the photo quickly. It turned out pretty good—not as good as the photo I got in the middle of the battle, but pretty good nonetheless.

"Leo, right?" Brock asked, peering a bit over my shoulder. I jumped at his voice, quickly turning towards him. "Will you be challenging my gym as well soon?"

"Oh!" Oh, _awkward_. "Oh- oh, n-no, I won't be. Um, it's not what I'm p-planning to do. I- I— "

"Nah, Leo's not one for battling." Aster rested a sweaty arm around my shoulders. I tried to squirm out of his touch, but he held me tight, ignorant of how icky he felt. "He's actually on a mission for Professor Oak, isn't that right?"

"A-Aster— "

"Aw, come on, Leo, it's pretty cool!" Aster sighed. "I won't share it, then. But you gotta admit— "

" _A-Aster!"_

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, talk about a long'un! Without this note at the end, it's already 4.3k words! The brunt of it is obviously the gym battle between Aster and Brock, and before I get comments saying "asdfjkl; you made the first gym too easy! aster shouldn't have won it!1! he's such a mary sue!1!", pause for a moment, take a deep breath and release all that anger you have trapped inside. Deep breath, and read this author's note.**

 **In-game you're technically able to spam Vine whip and call it a day with Brock, but this isn't just a fun little game, my dear reader! It was a bit of a challenge for Aster and Di(anthus) to get through the first gym because it was practically two-against-one, and they went into this knowing** _fully_ **that it was going to be a challenge, so he strategized ahead of time. If there's one thing that isn't obvious yet about Aster, it's that he's determined, and he's smart- well I guess that's two things. He didn't try and bulldoze his way through, he came up with a plan that he hoped would work, and it did, and he managed to beat Brock! The time that Aster spent in the Viridian forest and all the way up through Pallet was spent** **thoroughly planning** **out how he was going to take down Brock, with different kinds of Pokémon on his team, or possibly none at all. Not to mention this kid has wanted to _be_ a gym leader since he was, like, seven, so there's no doubt in my mind that he spent nights planning out different ways to beat gym leaders and how to become one.**

 **Re: the beginning bit with Citrine. Aster _knew clearly_ who Citrine Anders was. She's a model, and even in the public eye then, she was more on the fame scale of _dance moms_ or spoiled beauty-pageant girls than Victoria's Secret models. There's no lie that Citrine is stuck-up and bratty, even in the public eye, and Aster decided to mess with her a bit just to be a lil' shit. **

**Re pt 2: "Oh, Arceus" is said more like a phrase of expression than "Oh my God". While it's similar and definitely has its roots in the Sinnoh region, especially the more religious Sinnoheans, a lot of the other regions took the expression and made it as an exclamation than of praise to Arceus, and also partially to mock Sinnoh. Poor Sinnoh.**

 **Next time; Leo and Aster enter a competition.**

* * *

 **Review response time!**

 **Reaper4425: Backstory...coming soon to a theatre near you! ;)**


	9. Peculiar

_**\- 9 -**_

 _ **"Peculiar"**_

* * *

The next day, we were off to Mount Moon. The most famous mountain in all of Kanto—one of the highest in the region, too, and one of the mountains many trainers had to travel across and through, especially if they wanted to make it to Cerulean to challenge the next gym.

The routes around it were full of Pokémon. I had my camera, fully charged and ready for the day ahead of me. Of us, I supposed, because Aster was hell-bent on joining me no matter where I went.

"E-Even if I end up in a ditch?"

"Even if you end up in a ditch!" Was his response. "I've got Di on my side, I'm sure her vines are strong enough to pull ya' out, if you need to be!"

 _Dang it, Aster._ There seemed to be no shaking him, like, ever. Ever. Which I partially didn't mind, but also partially minded. At least he kept the trainers away from me as I did my work.

Route 3 was, as per expected, bursting with trainers. Trainers who had gotten their gym badges, trainers who were training to get their gym badges, trainers passing through to get to Cerulean city on foot… a lot of trainers. And Aster was determined to take those trainers on.

"Hey, I gotta train Di for the gym battle in Cerulean." He explained as we found a clear spot to catch our breaths. I'd taken photos already for some of the route already; the harder-to-find Pokémon were tending to elude me more than ever now. Like Jigglypuff, for example, though I'm not sure listening to one's lullaby was worth it… "And anyway, you're not that into battling, so you don't mind, right?"

"N-No. I mean, um, I- I don't mind."

"Perfect!" He grinned. "What Pokémon do you think I should catch on this route? I'm not sure a lot of them will _help_ against in a water-type gym battle."

I shrugged. I wasn't one for telling people what to do. I wasn't one for _catching_ Pokémon, either, but that's a whole different story. As we came to the end of a clearing, where a ledge forced us to jump down, I glanced a bit up ahead to what was coming.

Not _again_. This is the second time she's appeared in two chapters. Too much, right? But it feels appropriate that we'd run into Citrine and her show again at some point, right? But still. Ugh. The cameras were set up, and probably disturbing a lot of the wildlife around them. There were lights shone directly on Citrine as she and Charlie fought against a wild Pidgey. We could hear them from the ledge, and the presence of not just a famous model, but also a lot of TV equipment, on a route so full of trainers, brought them a crowd as well.

"Charlie!" We could clearly hear her call. Citrine looked determined. "Metal Claw!"

Charlie nodded, his claws glowing silver before charging the poor Pidgey. It flew up to avoid it, but it was already weakened enough from the battle that we'd probably missed. Charlie jumped up again, hitting it across the stress.

I winced. I hope that something like that was never used on _me_. Citrine had… an interesting habit when she was younger where she'd tell her Pokémon (which was, at the time, a little family Poliwag named Lucille) to use moves on me. The Pokémon were very low-leveled and the worst that would happen would be a water-gun to the face, but she grew out of that. I think.

Aster's hand was suddenly on my shoulder. "Hey, Leo. Wanna turn back for a bit?"

"Wh-Why?"

"Well, I know you're not too… _fond_ of your cousin, per se." He explained, sympathy strong in his eyes. "And if we— "

"Pokeball, go!" Wow, she was really annoyingly loud and obnoxious. I winced. We glanced back, to see her catch the Pidgey. As if she didn't have a Pidgey already? Or was this her first catch? The sound of the clapping crowd signified she caught the Pidgey. "I just caught a Pidgey!"

Oh, Arceus, that was going to be annoying to deal with. I looked at Aster and nodded quickly. Hopefully, we'd be able to sneak away and we were far enough—

"Leo!" Oh, _come_ on! I just wanted to get away and not appear on television. I froze, turning my head slightly behind me to see who'd called me. But I'd know that voice anywhere. Citrine stood, hands on her hips, before parting the crowd and walking over to me. "One of my sworn rivals."

"A-Actually, we really, um, a-aren't sworn rivals…" I stuttered out, watching my cousin and the cameras roll towards me. I gulped, feeling my face turn hot. Yeah, camera-shy photographer, what _irony_ , just let me live, okay?

"I see you've made it to Mount Moon." She glanced over. "And with a friend? Wow, surprising. You're such a loner."

"We met before—" Aster began to say, but he was cut off by both a glare from the Director from behind the cameras and Citrine talking again.

"I'm sure you don't have any more Pokémon." Citrine laughed. "You were never good at catching Pokémon, were you, Leo?"

Ah, yes. Thanks for bringing back that memory she was referencing. She'd tell it differently, but here are the basics of what happened—when we were younger and she was visiting from Fuchsia city (where she lived, once upon a time) when my mom and I still lived with my grandparents, Citrine challenged me to a Pokémon-catching challenge. We were ten, impressionable, and just got a provisional trainers license, which let us catch Pokémon freely. We'd release them afterward, she just wanted a challenge. Ten Pokéballs each, the first to catch the most before sundown or before injury won.

Citrine caught four, three Rattata and one Pidgey.

I caught… Well, I technically caught _none._ I was too afraid that I'd hurt a Pokémon by chucking a ball at it, okay? When we met back up, it was humiliating and she hasn't let me live it down.

I _still_ don't catch Pokémon. For many reasons, aside from the humiliating memory.

"I- I don't." I said.

"See? A bit pathetic, don't you think?" Citrine laughed again, and the crowd joined in again. Great, a whole crowd of trainers, just _laughing_ at me. Suddenly, a devious look crossed her face. "How about this, Leo. A challenge, just like the good old days. Whoever can catch the most Pokémon on Route 3 before we get to Mount Moon wins. Let's get there by sundown."

"No-No thanks— "

"Great! Starting now!" Citrine barely glanced at the Director, who was nodding and writing it down in a notebook. "I'd say good luck, Leo, but I know you're just going to lose."

I sighed, watching her flaunt off with the crowd of trainers around her.

No, no,

no,

 _no!_

Not only was it bringing up bad memories from the past, but there was also a group of trainers who we would probably run into again through the journey and they'd recognize me. I'd also be losing on a TV show that would air, and then it would be even more humiliating. What would it take to get just a _normal_ life, a normal, quiet journey across Kanto to take pictures of Pokémon for a job?

I was on the verge of having a panic attack, my thoughts were running twenty miles a minute, my chest felt like it'd been stomped on by a Ponyta, I'm sure I felt hot tears running down my cheeks—

"Leo!" Aster's voice. I looked at him. Somehow, we'd ended up sitting under a tree, away from the trainers He was holding me by my shoulders. Had I blacked out from the panic attack? That tends to happen… a lot. "Leo, please. Breathe with me, buddy." He exaggerated his breathing. _In, out, in, out._

I copied it, in, out, in, out. The world around me was becoming a bit clearer, something I hadn't noticed before. That's just how panic attacks are, sometimes. Reality fades around you, and you're struck with panic and anxiety and you're suffocating and— _in, out, in, out._ Aster held tight, trying to help me breathe. _In, out, in, out._

"T-Th—thanks." I finally managed to get out. My voice croaked as I spoke. Yuck. Icky panic attack symptoms.

"It's no biggie." Aster said, before turning into Serious-Aster. Serious-Aster had a concerned look, and all of his happy-go-lucky aura around him dissipated. "Are you okay?"

He's probably gonna ditch me soon. Who'd want to hang around some loser like me who was prone to panic attacks, who couldn't even catch a wild Pokémon out of plain old fear that he'd hurt it in the process? I was a loser, I was going to lose this thing with Citrine. "B-Better." I managed out.

"Okay. If you need a few more minutes, let me know." He paused, loosening his grip on my shoulders. "And, uh, I'm sorry."

"F-For w-what?" My voice was shaking, but the high of the attack was slowly melting.

"I didn't know if you'd liked being touched or whatever." He cleared his throat. "My, um, niece is prone to panic attacks a lot. She doesn't like it when people touch her when she's having one."

Huh. I hadn't even noticed Aster grabbing me when it was happening. I was completely out of half of what had happened before he started trying to talk to me. Weird. And it's not like I would have known that being touched was not something I liked. Any panic attacks I'd ever had I was… well, I was alone.

"Y-you're—it's fine. Um, okay." I said. I was still a bit shaken, my heart was pounding and my legs felt like jelly. I looked around. The route had cleared up, following Citrine and the production people about her. "I- I hate this."

Aster nodded. He leaned up on the tree, next to me. "I hate this, too. Why does she _treat_ you like that? It's so messed up!"

"It's—it's not that." I'm _used_ to that. "I just- I- I can't catch a Pokémon. Cal—Cal was different, he was an egg w-when I got him, _and that's really different anyway_ —" I paused before I began to go too fast. "But. I don't like catching wild Pokémon."

"Why?" Aster asked, and then he tensed, probably because he was worried about being insensitive or whatever. "Oh, you don't have to share if you don't want to."

"I-it's fine." I replied. "I don't, um, like catching Pokémon, b-because I feel like I'm r-ripping them from their h-home habitat. And I- I get that trainers c-can do that because you have to—to get Pokémon somehow, b-but I just… Don't l-like the idea of it." I said. "I-I'd catch a Pokémon, m-maybe, if it willingly w-wanted to go with me, b-but I can't s-stand the idea of c-catching it m-myself."

Aster nodded. "I get that. I mean, I see where you're coming from." He stood up, brushing off his pants. "I might not see it the same way, but hey, that's just how I am." He outstretched a hand for me. "I think I have an idea."

* * *

Aster's plan was this—he'd take the Pokéballs _I_ owned, as long as I had them, and would catch Pokémon for me. The whole challenge had the hole in it that there would be no cameras on the two of us, and as long as the Pokéballs that I bought were used, then it would be fine. We could release them after the challenge, tomorrow morning before we went into the mountain's caves.

It was… almost perfect.

"H-here." I handed Aster my trainer card. Just to hold on to, in case him using my Pokéballs would have them register to his name, instead of mine. Aster handed his to me. I glanced at it, noticing that his hair was completely navy blue in the photo—must've been a while ago, I thought to myself.

"Thanks. Let's do this!"

Now, you're officially allowed to give Pokéballs to other trainers if you feel the need. The moment they transfer over, some sort of weird-technology card in the trainer cards recognize that as a gift or a trade, and the Pokéballs are registered on the card of the trainer. New technology, oh boy! The system was really… glitchy sometimes, though, especially with old cards. But as long as we had each other's trainer cards it _should_ be fine.

Right?

And so… we journeyed upon the rest of the route. Aster fought each wild Pokémon he saw, attempting to catch them. The first Nidoran we ran into was caught, a Jigglypuff we ran into fled before Aster could even pull out a Pokeball, and a Pidgey was caught. Aster was in his natural habitat, a trainer and a battler with a quick mind and a big heart.

We kept walking, and Aster was attempting to distract me from my doom against Citrine with some good ol' questions. "So, you got a picture of the Jigglypuff, right, Leo?"

I nodded. "They're a bit blurry, but I got a few."

Aster nodded, before gasping. I looked over at him, confused. "W-What?"

"You just said a _whole sentence_ without stuttering!"

"I-Is my stutter that obvious?" It was an anxious stutter that came with the whole Anxiety bundle I accidentally ordered when I was about seven years old.

"Not particularly." He explained. "It was just weird!"

"W-weird?" I glanced at him, confused.

"Ah, come on, I didn't mean it like that!" _Sure, you didn't._ "Anyway, I think if we can find one more Pokémon, we might have a shot against Citrine."

"How so?"

"Well." Aster's brows lowered. "The amount of noise that the entire camera crew is making is scaring away Pokémon, right? Except for Jigglypuff, ironically." Ah, yes, Jigglypuff really only seemed to come out when I had my camera out. He got pictures taken—I was a bit shaky because the Pokémon kept posing quickly—and after a tackle from Di, he promptly fled.

"Y-yeah. W-We can hope." Only hope could save us now. What a peculiar situation I've found myself in.

* * *

 **A/N: Has anyone noticed the time I've taken with just the chapter titles? They all start with P-. I'm quite proud of it, to be honest.**

 **Citrine is such a fun character to write because I get an excuse to be mean to my characters for no absolute reason except because Citrine can! Aster has experiences with anxiety because of his niece and little sister (not mentioned, but he has an older brother and a younger sister) who suffer from it, and knows how to calm people down from a panic attack _temporarily._ He didn't know for sure what to do with Leo's panic attack, because they technically have only known each other for... hmm, maybe 3-4 days? Give or take. It was lucky enough that Aster's technique was successful.**

 **And onto the meaty bit. Ah, yes, Leo doesn't like catching Pokémon. I was thinking of ways to make Leo more of an antithesis to your normal trainer, and thought, _well, what if he doesn't like catching Pokémon_? And this entire chapter was born from that one idea. Leo sees it as necessary for trainers to do, yes, and eventually, Pokémon can bond with them, or you can just release them if it doesn't work out, but he's not too big on it. There's that anxiety of his working overtime, and his empathy that makes him think about how the Pokémon will be affected, like is he tearing them away from their families, their homes? The only way Leo would ever catch a Pokémon is if the Pokémon _willingly_ goes with them. So getting this challenge from Citrine that he can't refuse or else the television executives might sue him or something is definitely world-shattering.**

 **Luckily there's a loophole, and that loophole is, as long as the Pokémon is caught with his Pokéballs, they're technically _his_. And since they don't have cameras following them like Citrine, they can get away with their little devious plan. The two of them are the antagonists in Citrine's story, even if they're not paid by the League association for that to be. The definition of "reality show" is very loose in this canon.**

 **Next time;** **Leo proves himself (with Aster's help).**


	10. Prove

_**\- 10 -**_

 _ **"Prove**_ "

* * *

We kept on going—Aster managed to catch another Rattata, but other than that, the Route had exponentially more trainers than they did Pokémon. We were nearing sunset, and we were nearing Mt. Moon. Our time was quickly coming to an end.

Oh, dear.

"I think we might have won?" Aster suggested, looking at the Pokéballs in his inventory. Five of them were full of Pokémon; he's caught five Pokémon, easily, for me. No one's done something like this before, it was astonishing to walk next to Aster. "I mean, there's a limit to how many you can have in your party before they begin to transfer to the PC, right?"

 _Yes_. Licensed Pokémon trainers are only allowed to have six Pokémon. You might occasionally find a trainer with seven Pokémon; the seventh Pokémon is never allowed to battle, however, and it's reserved for trainers who might have disabilities, or issues, with traveling. The League Association (which runs the gyms in Kanto, at least) wants every trainer to have a safe and happy journey!

Yeah, right, they barely pay attention to the ones who break the rules half the time.

I nodded; still in mute shock that someone would be _this_ nice for me. I'd have to shake it off soon, though, Mt. Moon was descending quickly on us.

It was _too_ quick, in my opinion. I sighed, watching as we quickly descended upon the base; another hop over the ledge, and we were there. The sun was also setting behind the mountain, too, sending us into a shadow that could rival a solar eclipse; it was only lit by some lights scattered haphazardly through the ground, probably lights that have been trampled on before, and the light of the Pokémon Center in the distance.

And the lights from the show and Citrine. Man, you had to admit, the show was certainly quick-moving when it came to filming. The wheels on the end of the cameras probably helped them move faster, too, along with the people holding the lights.

"Here, quick!" Aster quickly handed me my trainer card, and the five Pokéballs he'd caught Pokémon in. I quickly got his card out of my pocket, but I dropped it in the fumbling of all five Pokéballs in my arms.

"Sorry-" We both went down to pick it up at the same time, unfortunately—we bumped out heads in the process. The Pokéballs that I had in my arms fell all around us. The land was rocky enough for them to stop rolling too far away, luckily, but _dang_ that head-bump hurt. I think the top of my skull hit Aster's chin.

"S-Sorry!" I said, biting back the tears in my eyes. "I'm s-so sorry— "

Aster laughed. "It's fine, dude." He gave a big smile to me, to prove he wasn't in pain…. Or that he was just really good at hiding it. "Nothing's bleeding, see?"

I nodded. _I guess_ … He reached out his hand for me, for the second time that day, and he helped me get up. I quickly collected all the Pokéballs and shoved them into the pocket on my sweatshirt before we moved on. Sure, it may have made my sweatshirt pull down and look weird, but it was easier than trying to carry them in my arms. My sweatshirt pocket was famous for being my "pouch" of sorts, anyway, like a Kangaskhan.

"Oh, look!" I heard the Director call. "Places, everyone. Places!" I watched as the lights were fixed, the people began to run to the cameras and swirl them around, and Citrine walked out, looking as prim as usual. Her hair wasn't knotted, her makeup was perfect, she looked like she had just gotten ready for the day.

Wardrobe probably was really helpful with that, huh? Never would look like she'd been outside if she had them constantly following her on the set.

She crossed her arms. I gulped, feeling Aster trail behind me a bit. As backup, of course. To look…unassuming. Her eyes glared down into my soul, or at least it felt like it did. I took a few steps forward, and then, Citrine spoke. "Leo, my rival. I see you've made it, just in time." She motioned upward, to where the sun was slowly setting (still, sunsets take a long time). "The time has come for our challenge to be judged!"

Judged? How? It was literally just up to the numbers. But whatever, I guess. I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded, finally making it to where I was close to her… but she was taller than me, standing atop a ledge, looking down disapprovingly of me.

"Let's show each other the Pokéballs we used!" Citrine said. She reached into her pocket—I didn't know skirts even _could_ have pockets, but hey, it's probably a very fancy material for trainers, that's durable _and_ fashionable. She pulled out her Pokéballs. I pulled out mine from my pouch, struggling a bit at the number. Cal's Pokeball was stored in my pants pocket; so I wouldn't accidentally bring it out, of course.

Citrine's count: 4.

My count: 5.

"W-What?" Her eyes widened, her scowl deepened. She pushed some of her hair out of her face. "That's… Impossible! How many trainers did you have to give money to? Who'd you pay?"

"He didn't." Aster decided to become my spokesperson. "If you check league records, you'll see that all those Pokémon were caught with Pokéballs under Leo's license."

Well… I didn't _catch_ them. They were caught under my license. But there was no way to prove that, right? Unless witnesses came forth, but, why would they? Citrine's scowl depended even more than I thought possible.

"Last time I saw you, Leo, you were still a little scared baby." She scrunched her nose. "You win. _This_ time. I will win the next time we cross paths, Leodore, don't think otherwise!" Citrine turned on her heel, pointing at Aster, who was grinning next to me. It was a… devilish grin, something I hadn't seen on him before. "And _you_ —Asher, was it?"

"Aster, actually— "

"Doesn't matter." She waved a hand off. "If you're still with Leo next time, I'm taking you down, too."

She turned on her heel, walking back to where the Director and the crew were set up. There was… Of course, an RV, parked right outside the entrance to Mt. Moon. She'd get to sleep in a comfortable RV, while the rest of us trainers had to sleep in the back room of a Pokémon Center. Wow, how nice.

"And… cut!" The Director clasped his hands together. "Perfect! I hope you got good shots of that, you four." He motioned to the four camera men. They all nodded, terrified that the Director was looking at them. The Director then turned to us. "And Leo, Aster… Phenomenal! You will be the rivals that this show needs! I look forward to seeing you in the future!"

I didn't know how I felt about being a rival. It was like being a bad guy in someone's life, right? I guess if Citrine was declaring me a rival, would she be _my_ rival? But of course, I wasn't in the gym challenge, so how could that happen? I suppose it didn't matter, because in a sense, all the trainers you'd come across would be your rivals, and vice-versa.

After the crew began packing up, Aster pulled me out of ear-shot of them. "So, wanna release the Pokémon now, Leo?"

I nodded. Holding onto these Pokéballs… it made my stomach churn. It felt terrible that I used them in a _game_ , when they're living things plucked out of their habitats and forced into small balls. I know Pokéballs are designed to be comfortable, but I'm sure that they'd rather be returned to nature than just stay in the PC the whole time. We found a bit of grassy area near the Pokémon Center to release them from.

Releasing Pokémon from your license wasn't as easy as it sounds. Okay, it's more of an "easy in Leory, hard in practice" kind of way, because you have to release the Pokémon normally, and destroy the Pokeball. But Pokéballs are designed to be durable, and not break easily, because if they fall out of your pocket and hit concrete, the Pokeball shouldn't just _break_ like glass.

The Rattata and Pidgey were released first. They seemed pretty chill about the whole ordeal, despite looking very confused as I apologized over and over, saying that I was sorry that this happened, that they can go back, blah, blah, blah… They scuttled back into the wild as soon as I turned to Aster, who was holding the last two Pokéballs.

The Nidoran he caught, and the Mankey. It was a struggle to get the Mankey in the Pokeball; Di nearly lost that battle in the process. But we eventually got the fighting-type in the Pokeball. The Nidoran was luckily easier, but he hesitated.

"Leo, stand back, please." I nodded, taking a few steps away from the grass. Aster threw the first Pokeball in the air, releasing none other than the Mankey. She blinked once, twice, disoriented from a day in the Pokeball. Then she turned to look at us, and glared, and watched Aster toss the Pokeball onto the ground. "Go on, destroy it."

The Mankey took glee in destroying the Pokeball that'd once confined her. But she looked at us, confused to why it was happening. But shrugging to herself, the Mankey ran out into the route, never to be seen again.

"Phew. T-That was close." I mumbled to myself. I thought that the Pokémon might attack us in anger; she was just happy to be free. Then, next came the Nidoran. Aster hesitated, holding the Pokeball in his hands.

I'd never seen him hesitate like this before. He'd hesitated before, with Citrine, but it was different. He never hesitated in battles, or with Pokémon, but with people, it was a whole different matter. I tugged on his sleeve. "Y-you okay?"

"Oh, uh yeah!" He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I guess I just… I don't know."

"D-Don't want to release Nido—Nidoran?"

"Yeah…" He looked down on the ground. "I know he's technically yours, but he was my first ever catch, and…"

Oh. _Oh._ Nidoran was the first Pokémon Aster had managed to catch on the route, and I forgot that before that, he'd only had Di, who was a gift Pokémon. Nidoran was his first catch. I nodded. "O-Okay." I said, mostly to myself. I got what was happening.

"What?"

"Y-You can keep h-him. The N-Nidoran, I mean." I said, pointing to the Pokeball. "I- I wasn't going t-to keep him, _and_ he was t-technically your first catch, and I know it's u-under my card, but…" I began to ramble, quick-spaced words coming out of my mouth with no control. Aster didn't stop me. "… but you did _so_ much for me, with this stupid thing with Citrine, to catching all the Pokémon because I don't like to, and I feel bad for dragging you into my mess and I'm rambling again so I'm going to shut up now I guess."

He laughed. "Thanks, Leo. You're a great friend."

 _Friend? Friend? Friend?_ There was a scene in an animated movie once, about some kind of Magikarp, and I remember that the Pidgey in the movie all started saying _Mine? Mine? Mine?_ At the same time—and that's how it felt. _Friend? Friend? Friend?_

"N-No problem! A-at all!" I think the word _friend_ caught be off-guard, because I felt my face flush immediately. "U-Um, yeah! No problem!" Ah, my first _human_ 'friend'. It was weird to think of it like that, but it was, in all truth, all honesty, my first human 'friend' ever. "We should… p-probably get inside now." The temperature was dropping now that the sun was out of the sky, and the moon was rising, and I felt the air biting through my sweatshirt.

"Right." Aster smiled at me.

* * *

Sleeping that night was not easy. It was the first time I'd ever slept inside a Pokémon Center. They have a back room for trainers to rest in, a door that's usually a bit out of sight and hidden. It resembles a storage room, except instead of crates full of storage stuff, there's a lot of mats everywhere. They weren't comfortable mats, but it was better than the concrete floor.

There were also trainers. Everywhere _. Awkward._ Aster was knocked out the minute he hit the mat, while I just laid there… wide awake… staring at the ceiling. After a few hours of dreamless sleep, I cracked my eyes open again.

My phone, charging on the wall next to me, read 3 am. Great.

A lot of trainers were asleep, but a few of them—a group, I noticed—were crowded around each other, staring at their Pokédexes, talking in low voices. The door to the Pokémon Center- a 24/7 service to trainers- was cracked open, light poking through.

Without anything better to do, I crawled out of bed. Maybe fresh air would help.. I grabbed my yellow hoodie, discarded on a chair by my pillow, and my camera.

And I wasn't going to go too far, mind you. Just step outside for some fresh air. I didn't want to leave my camera alone like that, either, plus, what if I end up encountering a rare Pokémon? And I _don't_ have my camera?

The group of trainers merely glanced my way as I walked out. They returned to talking about getting to Cerulean as I left the door cracked. The Pokémon Center itself was lit up brightly, but it was empty and quiet, aside from the nurse at the desk, who was mindlessly scrolling on a blue website on the computer. It was 3 am—a rather quiet time.

She merely glanced up at me. I showed her my Pokeball, a kind of silent- _Yes I'm going outside, no, I'm not alone, I have Cal-_ before leaving through the sliding doors.

The night sky was quiet. And tranquil. Citrine's RV was parked right on the other side of the entrance to Mt. Moon as the Pokémon Center was, but all was quiet and dark. A few tents were stationed up around it, probably for the show's crew, the lights, wardrobe, cameras, and whatnot. Everything was quiet.

I released Cal into the air. He stretched, yawning. I'd let him out when we got to the Pokémon Center so we could eat some dinner, and he'd been out that day at lunch, but other than that, he was comfortably napping in his Pokeball. He floated towards me and nudged the side of my face, a sign of affection.

"Hello to you, too, Cal." I sighed, glancing around. There was a nice rock nearby—one that was _not_ a Geodude, it was obvious to tell what could and couldn't be a Geodude. Or it was for me at least, there were like four in Pallet Town? Maybe not to novice trainers. I stationed myself upon a rock, Cal trailing behind me.

It was nice. You could look up and see the stars, shining brightly in the night sky. You could make out the constellations, too. I only recognized the Big Gyarados, mind you. But it was still cool. Maybe I could find a book in Cerulean and learn the constellations. Make myself more…interesting, than what I am.

I sighed, looking down at the ground. I don't know _how_ I managed to get here. How I managed to find the courage to apply for a job at Professor Oak's laboratory. I was only meant to be a delivery boy, mind you, back then. It was a part-time job offer, so Professor Oak wouldn't have to send people who were working on "important research projects" to Viridian when something was ordered.

And… I got that job. I was the official delivery boy for barely a month before somehow… Well, I managed to impress Professor Oak's aides by helping them with the cameras. They didn't have a clue what they were doing, and they were messing up so bad I could've cringed into the next dimension before they even figured out what they were doing. I just meant to give them a few pointers, that's it.

The day after that Professor Oak called me to his office (it was, like… a singular desk, not an "office", but he called it his office so we just let it slide) and asked me what I knew about cameras. They'd had a few photographers at the lab before, but they all went on to pursue higher things—one of them went to Johto, another to Sinnoh, and there's one creating a photography event-club thing in a far-off region now. He wanted to see some of my work. It was mostly just pictures of wild Pokémon I'd managed to find on the routes, but he was impressed.

There came my first job. Here I am now, though, traveling across Kanto to get updated pictures for the new Pokédex. How… thrilling. It was thrilling that the professor would even _think_ to hire me to begin with, to be honest. To be honest, I didn't expect the journey ahead to go like this. Meeting Aster, making my first friend, ending up having a rival, witnessing a Gym battle (and that picture of Aster and Di? Wow, man, that was _so_ Portfolio-worthy).

It was strange to think that it felt like forever, but it's only been a few days. The first part of the league challenge, from Viridian to Cerulean, was only a few days walk, if you only stopped in Pewter and outside Mt. Moon.

I was lost in thought, I didn't even notice someone walking near me until Cal hissed. I blinked, turning my head quickly to the source of the sound.

 _Oh no._

"Huh, I ended up tracking you down again, I suppose."

"Y-You? "It was the burglar person from before! They had more exposed hair now, and…I glanced at their shirt. I felt my heart leap into my throat as I recognized the giant, red R branded across their black shirt. _Oh, Arceus._

"Yeah, _me._ I thought that the old man was smart." They began talking. "You know, having the coordinates somewhere safe, somewhere maybe he could only reach…" They laughed, crossing their arms. "But I was surprised that he hid them on _you_."

On me? What were they talking about? I remembered quickly—they originally broke in to find the coordinates to Red's location. Yeah, the famous Red, where have you been? Professor Oak and Red's mom were the only two to know his actual location, besides being "on a mountain". He was already hard to track down as it was. And now this person was looking for them.

But, _on me?_ There wasn't anything weird on me like that. The only thing Oak gave me was the folder for my "job" in it.

I had no idea what he was talking about. The person threw out a Pokémon—a Zubat.

Looks like I was going to have to fight.

* * *

 **A/N: At this point, if I've introduced a character, you should expect them to return more than once. After all, Citrine and Aster are walking in the same path (the same route that Red did all those years ago, which is the way many people tend to go through the gyms), and Leo is now kinda being hunted by this one particular Team Rocket Grunt. Is it okay for me to say that? It's obviously in the description _and the chapter_ , so, yeah, this mysterious person/burglar is a Team Rocket grunt. This time I can write an asshole for a character, but take it a step further than Citrine. :3c**

 **Also, the mysterious coordinates come up again! What are these numbers, and what could they _be_? They must have something to do with Red or someone else very important, or else Leo wouldn't be hunted down. **

**Also, Aster deserves to keep one of the Pokémon he caught with Leo. Not just as payment, but because it was technically _his_ first catch, even if the original trainer is registered as Leo. It's easy to transfer Pokémon like that as long as there's a Pokémon Center nearby, and luckily, there's one right under Mt. Moon! He's a little Nidoran dubbed "Pasque", by the way. Pasqueflowers. All the trainers in this story have a naming theme for their team except for Citrine. Aster names them all after flowers, and Leo... well you'll see ;)**

 **Next time; Leo and Aster begin their trek of Mount Moon.**

* * *

 **Shadowtala: Thank you! 3**

 **Don't be afraid to leave more reviews, guys, I'll always respond ;)**


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